As I sit here reflecting on yet another Christmas that has
come and gone. The carols were sung, the
parties are over, and the gifts have been opened. Tomorrow many will hit the stores exchanging
some of the gifts because there were not what they were expecting, hoping for,
or wanting. One year my darling hubby bought
me slippers. No I didn’t like them, they were not what I wanted. I wore them once in desperation. Now, I LOVE those slippers; they are my
favorite slippers. They were exactly what I wanted. I’m sure most of you have had the same experience a time or
two.
When God took on flesh and became a baby, many people living
at that time refused to accept the gift that was lavished on them. In fact, many are still waiting for the
promised messiah. He didn’t come as they
were expecting, in royal robes, with worldly power and influence so they cast
the gift aside and kept looking for the gift that had been promised. They could not and would never accept this gift. It was not wrapped the way they expected so
it was rejected. The people living in darkness had seen a great light. They saw the light and chose to remain in
darkness.
Today we often do the same thing that I did with the gift
from my husband. We cast the gift of God aside because it was not really what I
was hoping for at the time. Everyone
wants a “magic lamp” that will give them whatever they want; but they don’t
always want a sovereign God to tell them what to do. So they, like the people two thousand years
ago, reject the gift they need. It’s why
people have so many problems at Christmas.
Celebrating Christmas without Celebrating Jesus will always disappoint
us because we end up depending on the trappings of Christmas to fill a void
that only God can fill.
Today, if you haven’t already, opened the Gift of
Jesus. It is the only thing that can
make sense of all the commotion that comes with the celebration of
Christmas. Don’t be deceived into
thinking you don’t need the gift he offers.
We all need his gift. It’s the same gift he offered to the people in his
day, that he offers to you and me. The
gift of a clean heart and life forever; what more could we hope for? Don’t just
see a great light, enter into the light.
Then, you’ll be celebrating Jesus all year long not just one day of the
year.
