This season is special for so many reasons. Family, friends, carols, decorations, and presents all contribute to the joy we feel. I've had many wonderful Christmas seasons. I've had a few that weren't quite so wonderful. Yet one truth about this season remains in my life:
The one fact of Christmas I've had my entire life is that we celebrate the birth of a tiny baby who chose to be born so that He could walk as I walk and He could experience what I experience. He didn't do this for Himself. He did this for me.
This Christmas season has proven to be a new experience for me. I didn't put up a tree or many other decorations. I have collected nativity sets and I display most of them year round. This year I got out 3 special ones that I save for Christmas. I don't have any twinkling lights except at work where we have a beautiful tree that sits right by my desk.
I am listening to Christmas music in my car and watching Hallmark Christmas movies at home. I attended my church's choir presentation and it was one of the best I've experienced. I plan to attend our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services.
What I'm trying to say is that I loved Christmas when I was a child but it was mostly about my presents. I loved Christmas when my kids were growing up but it was mostly about their presents. Yes we celebrated Christ but as I look back He wasn't the focus He should be. Over the last 13 Christmas seasons there have been many changes in my life. My kids are grown and doing well. I have grandkids but they live a distance away. I've struggled with how to celebrate the season. I rejoice in realizing that this year my focus is where it should be.
I will spend time with family and friends and I'll enjoy every moment of it. I'll open presents and eat too much good food. But if I've learned anything in the past few years it's that my relationship with Jesus is the one that matters most. I love my family and friends and would do anything for them. But Jesus has done and still does everything for me. He came to this world when He didn't have to, He lived and taught so that I would know how to live, He suffered and died so I could be forgiven, and He rose and lives again where He is preparing a place for me to live forever. That is the greatest gift ever given.
Please in all your merrymaking and celebrating don't leave out the One who truly deserves to be celebrated. You will be the one who misses out on the joy that this season brings. Here is my prayer for you:
Amen
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