How many days are there of Christmas at your house each year? Do you celebrate one day, two, even twelve?
Each family has their own traditions, and yet for all of those, we might still be missing something important when it comes to celebrating Christmas.
We are missing the point.
Not always, but often, we miss the true meaning of Christmas, the point of it all - Jesus!
Jesus Christ (The Messiah) came to seek and save the lost. [Luke 19:10]
That's us before Jesus - lost.
Once we have been found, and forgiven, do we box up the nativity scene and put Jesus on the shelf until Easter rolls around? I pray that we do not! Often we become too comfortable in our relationship with the Christ Child. We love the baby in the manger and the "Goodwill towards men" but stop short of sharing the whole story. Too often we forget that the whole point of Jesus taking on the form of a man was so that He could offer His own life as a ransom for many.
Let's get our focus back on Christ!
Several years ago, while preparing for a Christmas Eve service, the question was posed: "Which do you like celebrating more, Christmas or Easter?" I responded: "Without Christmas there is no Easter! We need them both!"
What would your answer be to that question if you were asked it today?
Do you realize that without Christ's birth as a man, there would have been no death on the Cross, no burial, and no resurrection? Christmas brings hope to the world, but only if we follow the story through. Christmas by itself cannot save us. Only by accepting Christ's call to repentance of our sins, and accepting Him through faith can we be saved.
I love to celebrate Christmas! I hope you do too. Just remember the reaSON for CHRISTmas.
Christmas points us to the Cross and what Jesus did there. You can never have too many days of celebrating Christmas if you remember it leads to Easter and the resurrection. If you love to sing Christmas Carols, sing them with all your heart, sing the ones that point other people to Jesus.
I'll be celebrating Christmas long after January rolls round. I'll be celebrating what Jesus did for me on both Christmas and Easter. How about you, will you join me in celebrating all year long?
His is a love worth singing about.
While I love everything Christmas, I agree - without His birth the cross would never have happened. We need to see the child grow into the man and He had to do so to have faced everything we as human will, to take on all of that sin that was not his own.
ReplyDeleteThat being said - I do love nutcrackers and the joy of Santa in a child's eye and singing Jingle Bells or Here Comes Santa Claus. But my favorite songs are certainly the ones about my Lord and Savior. - Lori