When it comes to Christmas, I fight being a Scrooge.
Not that I don’t enjoy making gingerbread houses with my grandchildren. Or driving far and wide for an impressive light display. Or belting Celine Dion’s Christmas album at the top of my lungs.
I love every bit of that.
But sometimes all the festivities seem like a huge distraction from the real celebration.
In the thick of all the shopping and baking and crafting and decorating there’s a huge part of me that wants to jump up and down and say, “Don’t forget who the party’s for!”
Not just because I’m a Christian.
But because I know that understanding who the hoopla’s for won’t just change your Christmas.
It’ll change your life.
CELEBRATE GOD WITH US
When my older daughters were in high school they spent a couple of summers teaching swimming lessons.
One of them preferred to teach older kids who needed to fine-tune their basic swimming skills.
Here’s why.
Since it was summer and she was a teenager, my daughter wanted both a job and a suntan. So at the start of every class she pointed her students to the deep end of the pool. Then she positioned herself in the sun on the ledge of the pool with her lifesaving device in her lap. From there she instructed, gestured and cheered while five or six adolescents eagerly swam, floated, and learned to dive.
After her first week of lessons, my daughter returned home from work exasperated. With a roll of her eyes she explained how the swim coach had insisted she get in the water with her students.
For a young high school student with the beginnings of a beautiful tan, the news was devastating. After all, she explained, the kids were learning to swim and were swimming very well, thank you.
But the coach knew better.
No matter how stellar my daughter’s lessons were from the edge of the pool, her students needed her presence in the water. That way they’d hear her instructions clearly. They could ask questions more easily. And if a new stroke or dive made one of them feel in the least bit insecure, they’d be reassured by my daughter’s close presence. Most importantly, my daughter would be in a better position for rescue.
Simplistically, that’s Christmas.
Immanuel.
God With Us.
The wonderful and miraculous incarnation of God who put on flesh.
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
CELEBRATE GOD WITH YOU
It’s the most stunning good news the world has ever known.
God isn’t sitting on the sidelines.
God, wrapped in the skin of a tiny baby, came to rescue us, to help and empower us, and to fill us with His life-changing presence.
When you’re convinced you have life under control and suddenly a wave of loss or doubt or temptation or crisis crashes in and threatens to take you under, God is there in Christ. And whether or not He calms the storm, He’ll bring peace to your heart. Every. Single. Time.
By His Word He gives guidance, instruction, conviction, reassurance and comfort. His presence is as real as your breath and His Spirit is always at work. Because of His life in you there is no impossible.
And if you’re a Christian and you stray from Him, you’re guaranteed to experience His firm but loving hand pulling you back to your senses.
No matter what life brings your way, God is right there with you.
I can tell you for certain that for 40-plus years as a Christian I’ve never once been left alone to sink or swim, no matter how foolish or selfish or rebellious I’ve been. Instead I’ve experienced firsthand the strong and righteous and sure presence of God in Jesus Christ.
And that’s what I want to celebrate every December.
CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS
So sometimes I get a little Scrooge-ish when all the hype of the holiday threatens to overshadow the best news in all the world.
Immanuel.
God With Us.
In Christ.
That’s something to celebrate every single day of the year.
For years I did some crazy things at Christmas to try to keep my family’s focus on Jesus. For a while I banned Santa decorations from our home in lieu of angels and nativity scenes. One Christmas I cut and glittered Styrofoam Chrismon ornaments for our tree. My daughters are still giggling about it.
You don’t have to get as drastic as I did to keep Jesus Christ as the mainstay of your celebration.
Go ahead and celebrate hard.
Decorate the tree. Blare the Christmas music. Wrap the gifts. And hang the lights.
But do it because He’s here!
In your most joyful moments…in your deepest sorrows…when you’re on top of the world…and when you feel like you’re drowning…He is there with you in every single moment of your life.
Merry Christmas!
