Looking for Jesus

A manger ornament with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus is found among the branches and lights of our main Christmas tree in our den.

This particular ornament was slightly hidden in the branches of our Christmas tree, as you can tell from all of the wires and lights all around it. That was not necessarily intentional or meant to be a slight against Jesus in any way. Most of our ornaments are that way, actually.

But it does remind me of both the shepherds and the wise men who came looking for Jesus. The shepherds were not necessarily actively seeking him until the angel appeared and told them the good news. Once they heard that, they immediately set out to find him.

The wise men saw a special star in the sky, and because they had studied the signs, they set out to find the newborn king. They had slightly different circumstances than the shepherds, but they were also looking for Jesus.

My hope is that we are all looking for Jesus. Not just during the Christmas season, but all year long. I hope that we are following his examples and learning from his teachings. I hope that we are aligning our lives with his will so that we can serve God in the way that he wants to be served, and help others as part of our service.

And if we are all doing that, we can help to make the world a better place to live, while we wait for our eternal home.

I hope that you and your family have a blessed Christmas, and that you are blessed in the coming year.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. - Luke 2:7

About the Photo

Interestingly, the large light right above the ornament changes back and forth from white to blue. I figured out quickly that I had to wait to take my photo until the light was white because the blue time did not give nearly enough light to get the look I wanted.

I lightened up the photo a good bit to get the feeling that I was going for so that the ornament was not too dark. And in doing so, I had to remove some noise from the photo so that it was not too distracting.

If you have not guessed from the last few photos, I love these tightly focused views looking into the Christmas trees. I suppose that is the theme for this year’s Christmas posts.

Merry Christmas!

Photo: A single JPG exposure, processed in GIMP and Raw Therapee. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: SonyFE 50mm f/1.8
Date: December 12, 2022
Location: Williston, Tennessee