With the season of Christmas being right on us, it is very easy to be caught up in the busyness of all of the things to do around the time of Christmas. For me, it is the first time that I will be away home. Wow, it is crazy how fast time flies. Celebrating Christ in this season is all the more real for me. I know when I was back home in the States, it was so easy for me to get distracted by all of the things happening around me. I was easily distracted by the things to do, the break from school, and the time to spend with my family. None of those things are bad, and they are all good to some extent. Yet when you use all of your time for those things and not to refocus your attention on Christ, that is when you are having things before God. They in turn, become an idol.
Christmas should be celebrated in a way that helps us remember Christ and the true and perfect gift that he is for us. Christmas shouldn’t be the very thing used to draw our attention to other things, but it should lead us to look to Christ.
When Christ was born, many of us think of the baby born in Bethlehem. We think of Jesus growing up, performing all of the miracles to bring glory to his Father’s Name, and finally bringing glory to his Father by dying on the cross for our sins. All of this was to bring glory to the Father. Going back to the very beginning of the Bible is where we first read of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. In Genesis 1:1-2 it says,
“In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Here in these two verses, it is seen that The God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are there, but God the Son is not seen. However in John 1:1-4 it says,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. (4) In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
Here in these verses it states that God the Son was also in the beginning too. We then see the ‘Trinity’ aspect of God. We also see this when Jesus is baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist.
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of GOd descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; (17) and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17
By looking over these past few verses, it is very important to note that Jesus left his rightful place in heaven. He was at the creation of the heavens and the earth. He is God. In Philippians 2:5-8 it says,
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, (6) who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7) but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Then in Deuteronomy 21:23 it says,
“his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.”
Jesus became a curse for us, so that we can have life in him.
So in this Christmas season, be in awe of how amazing of a sacrifice Christ committed for your sake. Be amazed by his goodness, his love, and his sacrifice for you. It is amazing the Creator of all things would go to that crazy extent for me, for you, for all of us. So in this time of celebrating, I encourage you to have this perspective with you. Remember the great gift Christ is. Remember him in all of what this season brings. Don’t be swept away with the busyness. Rather take time to thank the one who gave so much for you.
——-Here is some things we have done in the Christmas season——-
We went to Antigua yesterday and walked around. This is a picture of the volcano that Antigua is right by.
So the other day we cut off a leaf from a plant for our “Christmas Tree”. It was so beautiful and it was so great. We cut it down at our ministry sight and then transported it through the town and back to the base. The leaf is about 15 feet high. The picture to the right is only like 3 days later… The leaf will probably not make it much longer. Hahaha, That’s alright though. It is nice to have in the room.
