We are finding ourselves again in this “celebration” time of the year. We have just observed our annual Thanksgiving observation and now ahead of us lies the holiday of Christmas. I find it interesting to see how the realities of these events that we observe become lost in the celebration of them.
Years ago I was speaking with a very troubled young man who had come into my office and in an attempt to discern what he knew about our Lord I asked him what he understood about the Christmas holiday. I have found this to be an excellent way of opening a door to the gospel. I was amazed to find that this young man (in his mid-twenties) had no understanding whatever that Christmas was a celebration of the birth of Christ. As I remember his response, it was that he believed it to be a time of “love and family”. These holidays really become meaningless when we loose the essence of them in the trappings of their celebration.
Christmas really is a holiday worthy of our most diligent efforts to maintain its true meaning. The apostle John spoke of it in these words:
John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
1 John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
Let us purpose this Christmas season to give as much effort to the preservation of the reality of Christmas as we give to the celebration of Christmas.
