It's that time of year again. December has come and with it all the joys of Christmas. But what is the real meaning of Christmas? Is it the gifts under the tree, the lights in the windows, the cards in the mail, turkey dinners with family and friends, snow in the yard, stockings hanging in the living room, and shouts of "Merry Christmas" to those who pass us in the streets? Is this really Christmas?
For many people, Christmas is a time of sorrow. They don't have the extra money to buy presents for their children, family, and friends. Many are saddened at Christmas time when they think of their loved ones who will not be able to come home for various reasons or have pasted on. Turkey dinners may be only a wish and not a reality for some.
For the last several years I’ve been a scrooge about Christmas. This year more than others I feel like I have the right to be a scrooge because all I can think about is me not being at home, and my grandmother not being alive. Funny enough this year God wanted to put a stop to all my nonsense. I was in this session with my team and this guy was speaking about Christmas and he told of how his parents taught him and his brother about the real reason of Christmas. As he spoke to us God just continued to ask me why I didn’t like Christmas. I would answer him by saying, “Lord People don’t get it; Christmas isn’t about them or the presents it’s about you, and he said to me, “then why don’t you like it?”
Christmas should be a season of great joy. It is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. You see, Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels all shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of His coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child.
Why did He come? Why did God send His son to this sometimes cruel and hard world? He sent Jesus to us so that one day, He would grow up to become a very important part of history. His story (history) is one of truth, love, and hope. It brought salvation to all of us. Without Jesus, we would all die in our sins.
Jesus was born so one day the price could be paid for the things we have done that are wrong. The Bible says that all have sinned. We are all born with a sin nature. We do things that do not please God. Through the sins of Adam and Eve, we have all inherited that sin nature. We need to have that removed. The only way is through Jesus. Jesus came so He could die on the cross for ALL of our sins. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, we can ask Him to come into our hearts and forgive us. Then, we are clean and made whole. We can know that heaven is a place where we can go to when this life is over.
We can truly be happy at Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children. We then become sons and daughters of God. Heaven will be our home one day.
This year I’ll look at Christmas in a new way. This year I want worry about how many people get caught up in the gifts and all the things the media wants us to focus on, but yet I’ll place my joy in the fact that Jesus loves me and came to earth so that I can one day be in heaven with him. We always give gifts to each other for birthdays and Christmas but what do we give the King for his Birthday? This year my gift to the King is my restored Joy for his birthday. This joy and peace will last all the years of my life, because my joy of my life and this season is in Zion.
Jesus Is The Reason For The Season! Rejoice!
