There is a famous Christmas song titled, “Mary Did you Know?” It was written in 1984, by Mark Lowry, whose Nashville church asked him to write a song for Advent. It is quite popular on Christian and secular radio this time of year.

The song asks a series of questions, “Mary did you know your baby boy would……..?” One of the questions the song doesn’t address is one that is pressing on my mind this year. “Mary did you know this is how we would celebrate the birth of God’s Son?”

I don’t know about you, but there comes a time every year, about a week before Christmas, where I get fed up with all the festivities. I’m tired of the shopping, wrapping, running around, finding parking, cooking, baking and attending parties and programs. I find myself wanting Christmas Day to come and go.

This year is going to be different though. You see I have a new perspective on how I think Christmas should be celebrated. It should be simple. In fact I would go as far as to say it was meant to be simple. I realize that Christ was probably not born according to our December calendar, but it is this season that we celebrate his birth. Somehow though, I think our consumer-minded culture misses the simplicity that this holiday was meant to be. Let’s journey back 2000 plus years ago and see how simplicity weaves through this story.

Mary and Joseph were not well-known, wealthy people, holding prestigious positions in society at the time. They were simple people given and extraordinary assignment by God. They made a journey to a crowded, busy, city to register for a census. But they slipped in unnoticed. No one knew Mary was carrying the Savior of the world in her womb. Perhaps they would have stayed in better accommodations had people realized prophecy was being fulfilled right in front of them. But, they stayed in a stable, with hay, livestock, and a feeding trough for a crib. Simple.

Let’s journey outside the city and look at whom God chooses to announce the birth of the King to. Shepherds. Historians tell us that this was not a desirable occupation, nor were shepherds considered respectable in society at that time. They led a simple life. Yet God chooses the shepherds to hear the life-changing news first.

It is in the words of the angels’ song to the shepherds that I find the key to simplicity. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to all men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14.

We not only received a Savior that day many years ago; we also received an amazing gift of peace. And in my mind if there is peace, there is simplicity, and vice versa. We can’t control the hustle and bustle of the season that goes on in this world, but we can control what’s in our hearts and our minds. This season is about remembering the simplicity of how, I believe, God intended Christmas to be. It’s about recapturing the peace that surpasses all understanding. It’s about revisiting our Prince of Peace.

Remember, peace was not just given for one time, or one Season, but for a lifetime. How are you celebrating the birth of your Prince of Peace?

If you have a few minutes, click on the link below to watch a beautiful video on peace and simplicity during the Holiday Season.

Click here to see You Tube “I need a Silent Night”