A pastor friend of mine, Roshaun Gendrett, is planning to preach a Christmas sermon and the Lord gave him an interesting take on Christmas this year. His theme is “let it go.” In the sermon, he will talk about all the things we need to let go of. Starting with the people featuring in the Christmas story, the Father had to let go of the Son to let him be born that first Christmas. Mary and Joseph had to let go of their reputations and life as they knew it.  As Jesus grew, they had to let him go in his ministry. Those who received Jesus had to let go of their preconceptions of what a Messiah was supposed to look like, do, and not do.

As he was talking about it, I thought: What an interesting  approach to the whole theme of Christmas coming. It made me wonder what we need to let go of.  A relationship? An expectation? A need for control?  Sometimes we need to let go of something in order to fully embrace the presence of Jesus in our lives.