December 26: Learning to Live What We’ve Received

December 26 is a quieter kind of day.

The carols fade.

The candles burn lower.

The wrapping paper is gone.

The house feels a little more lived-in than usual.

And the emotional volume drops — sometimes into relief, sometimes into sadness, sometimes into gratitude.

Often all of it at once.

It can feel anticlimactic.

As though the story has ended.

But in the Christian life, December 26 is not an ending at all.

It is where discipleship begins.

1. Christmas Was Never Meant to Be Preserved

We often talk about “holding on” to Christmas —

holding on to the joy, the peace, the warmth, the feeling.

But Scripture never asks us to preserve Christmas as an experience.

It asks us to receive Christ —

and then live differently because of Him.

The incarnation is not a sentimental moment to protect.

It is a reality that reshapes how we return to ordinary life.

Which is exactly what the shepherds did.

2. The Shepherds Didn’t Stay — They Returned

After seeing the child, Luke tells us the shepherds returned to their fields.

They returned to work.

Returned to routine.

Returned to the ordinary.

But they did not return unchanged.

They carried:

• wonder into repetition

• praise into their labor

• joy into the night shift

• hope into obscurity

Discipleship does not pull us out of ordinary life.

It sends us back into it — with Christ in our bones.

3. December 26 Is a Day of Formation

This is the day when the gospel quietly asks:

• How will Christ shape your patience now that the rush is over?

• How will His presence change your conversations?

• How will love look without candlelight and music?

• How will joy be practiced when it’s no longer announced by angels?

Formation rarely happens in the spotlight.

It happens in the return.

This is where faith becomes real.

4. You Are Not Behind

Some people wake up on December 26 already feeling pressure:

• to plan the year

• to improve themselves

• to make resolutions

• to “do better” spiritually

Take a breath.

You are not late.

You are not behind.

You are not wasting anything.

Discipleship does not rush ahead of grace.

December 26 invites us to walk slowly, attentively, honestly —

carrying Christ forward without trying to manage the future yet.

5. The Question Is Not “What’s Next?”

The question today is simpler — and deeper:

How will I live what I’ve received?

Not heroically.

Not dramatically.

Just faithfully.

That might look like:

• gentler speech

• deeper listening

• a slower pace

• more patience with yourself

• renewed attention to God’s presence

• kindness without an audience

• gratitude without a holiday

This is the quiet work of discipleship.

A Simple Practice for Today

Today, resist the urge to plan the year.

Instead, ask one gentle question:

“Where did I notice Christ this season — and how can I carry that awareness into today?”

Write it down if you can.

Hold it lightly.

Let it guide you, not pressure you.

The Invitation

December 26 reminds us that Christmas does not end — it moves.

Christ does not stay in the manger.

He walks with us into kitchens, workplaces, ordinary conversations, and unfinished lives.

Discipleship begins right here —

not with resolutions,

not with performance,

but with presence.

The story is not over.

It has only just begun —

and you are invited to live it.