Christmas is indeed “The most wonderful season of all!” It’s colorful and fun. It’s full of people coordinating and sharing, eating and giving and it lends itself to parties and celebrating with people we don’t even know. It’s a grand time of year. The music is delightful and there is so much merriment all around.
Most of all, it is the time that we celebrate the birth of Christ, the Savior of the world. No, he was not born on December 25th. That is simply our day to celebrate and yes, that date is centered around pagan worship many moons ago. But the beautiful thing about this Christmas event is that Christians did not want the pagans to overtake the world system and placed the December 25th celebration right in the midst of all of that pagan activity so that the true God of this universe would be high and lifted up and He was.
It was He who came to set us free from our sin and shame and it was Jesus who really, for even practical purposes changed the world! The world has never been the same since that little baby came and if we have had room in our “inn”(hearts) today, He will change us beyond measure.
While so much time is certainly spent on buying and giving gifts, the true essence of Christmas is loving others and at Christmas time, it is expressed in the giving of gifts. I read about a lady who didn’t appreciate the commercialism of the season and as a result did not give gifts even to her grandchildren! GASP! (As you may know, I’m a new grandmother so I cannot imagine!) What kind of love is that? True love is patient, kind, long-suffering and gives gifts to others. That’s God’s love and He gave the greatest gift of all… his Son, Jesus who gave the ultimate sacrifice as well, His life for us! And then what did he do? He then, sent the Holy Spirit to live within us that we might have Him in us always. What a gift he gave! So, in honor of Him, we gift others.
Yes, the season is full of commercialism and all that comes with it, but I must say as a first time and new store owner, I did not have decorations for the store yet and how boring and odd it was to walk in a store during this wonderful season and not see the fanciful and beautiful red ribbons and bows. I wondered if I could “get away with it” because being new in store ownership, the money just doesn’t flow yet but the obvious answer was “no”, I had to decorate. What a difference it made in the store when decorations went up and was ready for visitors. The air was cleaner. The room brighter and a feeling of joy was in the room. It was Christmas!
I miss the season already. I went shopping the day after the 25th and most of the shelves were depleted, the bows picked over and the only stockings left were the ones with the letter “F”. I’ve decided that “F” is not used much on Jeopardy! LOL
One thing I want to work on during the year that is done throughout the Christmas season is loving others overtly. I want to work on doing that better all year long and maybe I won’t miss Christmas so much!
Happy New Year Tho.. It’s right around the corner.
