Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!  For me, it is not Christmas season until after we celebrate Thanksgiving. So here we are. December has arrived and it is time to enjoy the Christmas season. There is so much that I love about this time of year.

I love the fact that God came to earth in the person of Jesus.  The baby born in a manger provides us the opportunity of eternal life, providing the only reason for real hope.  Not because of the holiday, but because of the promise.  When the angel appeared to Joseph, he said these words located in Matthew 1:21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”  Jesus came as a baby to save us from our sins!  For this, we celebrate Christmas!

I always need to be reminded of the importance of worship during this season.  In the midst of all the business of the holiday, I need to take time for worship.  We sing some wonderful Christmas songs that may have become so familiar that we forget the importance of the words we are singing. I need to remind myself to not just sing words, but truly worship the God who is worthy of worship. The Christmas story is about the most important event in history.  For that, it deserves our attention, reverence and worship.

This season also reminds me of the importance of reaching out to others.  The Lottie Moon Christmas offering is an important part of my Christmas celebration. There are missionaries all over our world sharing the truth of Jesus, born in a manger to be the Savior of the world. We have the opportunity to be a part of their ministry by giving. One hundred percent of this mission offering goes to the mission field.

We also need to realize that, unfortunately, this is not a happy, merry season for many people.  They don’t experience the joy of the holidays.  Christmas is a great opportunity for believers to reach out into our communities and share the love of Jesus.  I don’t need to take up space listing a bunch of ways to help others.  I just want to challenge us to do it!  If we really believe in the true meaning of Christmas, let us show it by what we do.  If we want people to know that Jesus came to forgive their sins, let us show them that by how we love them.  I am constantly challenged to look beyond myself to others, even more so at Christmas.  There is great joy in serving others.

I truly hope this is a great Christmas season for each one of you and that it is a joyful season.  I pray that these words of the Christmas song “Go, Tell it on the Mountain” apply to your life this season: “Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born, and God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.  Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!”