It’s Christmas time! Tis the season to be jolly! Family, fun, gifts, feasts and parties abound during this time. And those are all wonderful things to enjoy during the holiday season. But what is Christmas really all about? And what can we do to make a difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us this Christmas?
I was listening to one of my favourite Christmas songs the other day – “Mary did you know” – and it hit me how profound and ridiculous the whole story of Christmas is! Once you think about it… I mean really think about it, it just makes absolutely no sense to the human mind.
Imagine this:
The most powerful and mighty King in all the universe – the King above all kings, Creator of all things, seated on His Throne in the Kingdom of Heaven, decides to step down off His glorious throne to save us from our sins because of His great and fierce love for us.
So this great King strips off His Godness (Yes, I know that’s not a word but bear with me…) and allows Himself to be born as a helpless little baby so that He can grow and experience life with all its difficulties and joys and therefore understand and sympathise more with us.
So obviously He chooses to be born into a royal family, right? Born on silk sheets in a palatial bed, surrounded by all the greatest comforts money can buy?
No.
GOD chooses a family of no consequence. Unknown. A carpenter and a virgin. And He comes into this world surrounded by cattle in a stable, a bale of hay for His pillow.
It’s absurd. It’s so ridiculous that GOD would come into the world in this way, completely humble and without any comforts. But this is reality. This is what our God did. And He did it for you and for me. He came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for all who will believe in Him.
Christmas time is a time of family, joy, gifts and peace. It is a time for hope.
But more than all of that, Christmas is about Christ. It is the time we celebrate His miraculous and wondrous birth into a lowly stable, surrounded by shepherd boys and angels.
It is a time to celebrate Him and all He has done for us.
We love to receive gifts, and give gifts to each other, but how about we give Jesus a gift on His birthday! And what could we possibly give as a gift to our God? Our hearts, our worship, our love. Yes, all of these should be daily gifts we give our King. Gold, frankincense and Myrrh are great gifts to give, and you can read about how to do that here.
But there is something else we can give to Him too. He came into this world; He lived, suffered, died and rose again victorious, all for us. For each and every one of us. And there are many people in the world today who don’t even know that yet! They celebrate Christmas without even knowing the Christ of Christmas. Without knowing that they have a Saviour, that they can hope in Him and find joy and peace in His arms.
So let’s give them the gift of knowing Christ this Christmas, and lets give Jesus Christ the gift of souls this Christmas, for His birthday. Let’s help to give Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the reward of His suffering by ushering new souls into His loving arms this Christmas.
I pray for an impartation of boldness and power from the Holy Ghost this holiday season, to empower us to be witnesses of the incredible birth of our Saviour. May we proclaim the gospel of Christ and the meaning of Christmas to those around us. May we share Christ in us, the hope of glory.
May we shine as brightly as the star of Bethlehem did that precious night – pointing everyone to Jesus. May we bring hope, joy and the gift of salvation to those we encounter and to those the Lord places in our path this Christmas.
In doing all of that, we give Jesus the greatest gift we can on His birthday – who, for the JOY that was set before Him, endured the cross for us. Because He loves us.
May you be blessed exceedingly, abundantly ABOVE all you could ever ask or imagine as you seek the face of Jesus this Christmas season.