We Need a Little Christmas

I am in the car with my son listening to non-stop Christmas music when I start singing along to We Need a Little Christmas. The song is about feeling sad and empty and needing some Christmas cheer in the form of fruit cake, carols and candles. 

Many of us start to feel this way as the season approaches.  We just can’t wait for the joy and celebration that comes with Christmas to arrive. We look forward to the small joys of the party like Christmas cookies, eggnog, the warm glow of the Christmas tree and the excitement and awe on our children’s faces. 

31 days out of 365 days we spend in this wonderful celebration of Advent leading up to the biggest birthday party of all time. I can’t imagine my life without this wonderful time of year. 

However, for many years there was no Christmas. There was nothing but darkness, despair and sin. There was no season of hope, joy and celebration. This darkness lasted over 400 years from the ending of the Old Testament to the beginning of the New Testament. During this time, God was silent. He was preparing for the perfect time to bring our Lord Jesus to save the world. 

Then, God said it is time. It is time that I bring you Christ, the Messiah.  “When the time had fully come, God sent his son” (Galatians 4:4).  However, it won’t be in the form of some big supernatural dust cloud.  It will be in the form of a little baby named Jesus. The world needed Christmas, and we got a little baby, who would take on the sins of everyone from the beginning of time to the end of time. 

Jesus conquered evil and death and gave us everlasting life. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the answer to our purpose, our hope and our reason for being. God knew we needed Jesus and now we have Him. Through God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit we are complete.

THIS is why we celebrate Christmas. This is why we have the season of Advent. Although we focus on Jesus all year long, many of us feel the need to have a mega sized party on December 25^th. We sing songs about baby Jesus, we have manger scenes to teach our little ones about that special night in Bethlehem, we cover our homes with tacky lights and eat chocolate first thing in the morning and we even cut down trees and bring them into our homes. 

We do this all to celebrate Jesus. All of these traditions are wonderful and are gifts from God.

However, the only way we can truly celebrate the birth of Jesus is by giving ourselves to Him. All of these traditions mean nothing to Jesus if He is not living in our Hearts.  We have to trust God completely and strive to live the way Jesus taught us to live. We have to put ourselves last and put others first, we have to let go of pride and become humble servants of Christ.  We have to change our thinking, our way of living, and our way of working. 

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). 

This Christmas, focus on your relationship with God. What can you do to strengthen your relationship? Is there anything that you need to change so that you are living according to how Jesus taught us to live? Who can you extend a hand to and share the most wonderful news of all?

Father God thank you a million times for sending your one and only son to this earth to walk among us and teach us how to live. How do we even begin to thank you for forgiving us of our sins and giving us the opportunity to start over? We are in awe of the miracle birth of Jesus and of your son taking on the sins of the world. Teach us, guide us, and instruct us in your ways so that we may do nothing but serve and glorify You. Amen.

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