So, here we are, six days away from the big day. It seems that this year, I have heard more and more people complain that they can't wait for Christmas to be over. I know that this season has become very hectic with all of the parties and shopping and doings and goings, but is it really that different from any number of other weekends throughout the year?
Honestly, I don't think that it is. I think that it has just become fashionable to dis Christmas.
But beyond that, I think there are deeper issues. Even the most adamant shopper among us would be hard pressed to say that presents are the meaning of Christmas. There are those who would claim the holiday as a time to focus on family and friends, but then, we should change the name to Friendsmas or Kinsmas. No, as the name implies, Christmas is about the Christ. We have all seen the motto knit on a Christmas sweater, "Jesus is the reason for the season".
But as I think about it, I wonder if even then, We are not getting the whole meaning of Christmas. Is it really all about the birth of Jesus, or is there something more? I think that there is.
The baby Jesus came to earth for a reason. Even as a baby there was a purpose to His coming. Unlike you or me, Jesus' never had to ask what He wanted to do with His life. Thousands of years before he was born, circumstances were set in motion that would determine His life on earth. He came as the savior, not a mentor, a teacher or a good example. He did not even come as a savior, he came as THE savior. The only one, ever. He came to die on the cross and redeem all of humanity. I think that is the meaning of Christmas, that God Himself came to earth in the form of a helpless baby, with the intent purpose of saving you and I from the mess we have made of our lives.
When you look at Christmas in that light, it is a pretty amazing holiday with a rather impressive meaning. I hope that maybe, this Christmas, as you hustle through the maze of shopping centers and sweat through the cooking of your holiday meals, that you will stop and contemplate what Christmas is all about. Is it about friends, family, a the birth of a little baby, or is it the beginning of the most amazing plan ever, designed by the Maker of Heaven and Earth Himself, to restore you and I to an amazing relationship with Him.
Well, regardless as the rest of you fly through the season, stressing over what to get Uncle Herbert or trying to arange the table so the Aunt Merfurd doesn't have to sit next to Uncle Boobert's twenty year old girlfriend, I am going to do my best to show my world what the real reason the season is.
Merry Christmas
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