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Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the lights, the movies, the music, the treats, the gift wrapping, the family time and all of it.
This year, weather and other issues have prevented us from enjoying some of our family traditions such as frosting Christmas cookies and shopping for gifts with grandma. Hopefully the circumstances will all come together so we can at least make the drive to celebrate Christmas with our family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
But even if those plans don’t work out, its OK. None of that is really what this holiday is about.
I heard a wise man recently say that the Peanuts character, Linus, summed up well what Christmas is all about in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” When Charlie Brown asks if there wasn’t anyone who knew what Christmas is really all about, Linus responded with a recitation of Luke 2:8-14, which recounts an angel’s words to the shepherds on the first Christmas. It says, in part, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
That is the reason we celebrate and one of my goals this Christmas season has been to spend more time focused on that fact. To help with that, I’ve read the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke to my kids over the last couple of weeks. I have also been reading daily Bible verses from an advent booklet that came in the mail. Each day there’s a verse about Jesus’ birth. Some are from the New Testament and others are from the Old Testament.
It’s interesting to read the scriptures about Jesus’ birth in the Old Testament that were written hundreds of years before His birth and then read the fulfillment of those prophecies in the New Testament.
Among the Old Testament verses about Jesus’ birth is Isaiah 9:6-7, which says: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”
Without the birth of that child, Christmas would not exist. With His birth, we all have access to the greatest gift there ever was. Now that’s a reason to celebrate.