Why We Celebrate Christmas

The line was really long--

The kind of line that you try to avoid--

The kind of line that you get stuck in because you have two coupons that you want to use and they expire today. 

So you're stuck in a line and you're tapping your foot and glancing at your watch and eavesdropping in on the conversations around you. 

And the girl behind me was frustrated --there with her grandmother--her grandmother who understood little English--and the girl spoke under her breath--

Why do we celebrate the holidays anyway? To give presents? Isn't that what birthdays are for? 

And I heard her words, her flung-out words into that store and they shook me.

Because it suddenly struck me that many in the younger generation don't even understand what Christmas is all about anymore. 

We live in a society where Jesus has been so carefully and subtly removed that the holidays don't signify what they once did, even 50 years ago. 

Not that the whole of society had a saving relationship with the Lord, but, as a whole, I think that we understood the why of Christmas a little more clearly. 

And the Enemy has so distracted our minds and our hearts in these days that many, many don't even understand why we stop and remember--

Remember the little Baby in the manger, remember the hush of that night long ago, the glow of angel's breath in the chill air, the wonder and the beauty of the Son of God come to earth. 

For all mankind. 

Mankind who has now forgotten Him, forgotten why He came, even forgotten that He came. 

How do we tell them? 

How do we tell our neighbors and our friends and those we come into contact with that He came, touch their hearts with the message of Christmas, of our Savior's birth.

By living the truth of His coming.

In whatever sphere He has placed us--

Living before our children, before our relatives, before our friends and neighbors, before Him. 

Making a conscious effort to place the Messiah at the center of our celebrations, of our rejoicing, of our cooking, baking, shopping--

Living in an uncluttered, undistracted way that points ourselves and others to Jesus. 

This will look different in different people's lives--but in every believer's life will be authentic, life giving, joy-offering. 

He can teach us and give us the grace to do it. 

So that others may know--

Why we celebrate Christmas. 

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