'I should have done more' by Nicki Copeland

We were singing a Christmas carol in church yesterday – I can’t even remember which carol it was – when a little thought struck me. How would the owner of the house have felt when the significance of this little baby, sleeping in the courtyard with his animals, dawned on him?

Let’s rewind a few days. The owner of the house – let’s call him Festus – discovers that Caesar Augustus has ordered a census. ‘Marvellous,’ he thinks. ‘Now all the rellies are going to descend on us, expecting somewhere to stay until all this is over. As if I haven’t got enough on my plate feeding my own family, now I’ll be expected to host untold cousins I haven’t seen for years and make polite conversation with people I hardly know.’

Before long, people start knocking at the door. ‘Can we come and stay?’ ‘It won’t be for long – just until the census is over.’ ‘We won’t get in the way – you won’t even know we’re here.’ Within days, every space is filled, and there’s barely a moment’s peace.

Late one evening, there’s another knock at the door. ‘Here we go again.’ Festus looks at his wife in despair – there’s simply nowhere to put anyone else.

When he opens the door, he sees a distant relative – a man called Joseph – and his wife. About to turn them away with a polite apology, he notices that the young woman is heavily pregnant. ‘Hmm, this is awkward.’

His wife comes to the door. ‘Oh, you poor love. You must come in. We’ll find somewhere, won’t we, Festus?’

‘Well, if you don’t mind sleeping with the animals, sure,’ says Festus sarcastically, not for a moment expecting them to accept – who would want to sleep in a smelly courtyard with the goats and the donkeys?

‘That would be wonderful, thank you,’ says Joseph. ‘My wife can barely stand up. We’re so grateful you can accommodate us.’

Later that night, Festus wakes up. ‘What a rumpus! What’s going on?’ He goes down to the courtyard to find a baby in the animals’ feeding trough, of all things. And – what’s that – people are worshipping him? Who is this couple, and who is this baby, that angels have been telling people about him? He must be pretty special…

As Festus looks back on that night, I wonder how he felt. This baby was a Big Deal, and he was born in the animal courtyard. Admittedly he hadn’t turned them away, and I’m sure he was very glad about that, but I wonder if he ever thought to himself, ‘I should have done more.’

This Christmas, I’m challenged by the fact that I so often give Jesus the courtyard of my life, when I should be giving him the best room in the house. Is there an area of your life where you could be doing more for Him? How does your writing reflect His awesome greatness?

Nicki Copeland is a freelance writer, speaker, copy editor and proofreader – and loves anything to do with words. She is the author of Losing the Fig Leaf and Less than Ordinary? She has recently taken over the day-to-day running of Instant Apostle publishers. When she has the luxury of some free time, she can invariably be found with a book in one hand and some chocolate in the other. She’s hoping to be forgiven for posting a blog that isn’t much about writing, as it’s Christmas…