22 December 2014
Christmas Comes Anyway
Luke 2:8-11
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. 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.
Christmas is quirky time of year. In our country, it’s a mixture of vacation days, shopping lists, travel, and religious ceremonies, and a growing number of people want to do away with it all together. But the thing about Christmas is that it comes anyway whether you shop, travel, sleep in, go to church, or ignore it.
Look at the shepherds who get a late night visit from a bunch of angels announcing the birth of Jesus. Those shepherds were just having a business as usual kind of night in a field. Jesus came anyway.
I think Dr. Seuss nailed it when he wrote:
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
Christmas doesn’t come from a store, and it isn’t whatever people choose to make it out to be. Christmas comes anyway because Jesus came anyway. Ready or not, Jesus came to save us from our sins and make us right with God so that we can have eternal life with him forever (Romans 3:22), and that most certainly does not come from a store!
Dear God,
Thank you for Christmas, Christ with us. Christ with ME! Christ for me! Christ IN me! You are so wonderful to have your will revealed in this way freely and generously. Shopping and traveling doesn’t offer anything close. I am so grateful and relieved at being made right with you simply by believing in your Son. I love you and thank you and I love CHRISTMAS and I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
Christmas Comes Anyway
Luke 2:8-11
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. 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.
Christmas is quirky time of year. In our country, it’s a mixture of vacation days, shopping lists, travel, and religious ceremonies, and a growing number of people want to do away with it all together. But the thing about Christmas is that it comes anyway whether you shop, travel, sleep in, go to church, or ignore it.
Look at the shepherds who get a late night visit from a bunch of angels announcing the birth of Jesus. Those shepherds were just having a business as usual kind of night in a field. Jesus came anyway.
I think Dr. Seuss nailed it when he wrote:
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
Christmas doesn’t come from a store, and it isn’t whatever people choose to make it out to be. Christmas comes anyway because Jesus came anyway. Ready or not, Jesus came to save us from our sins and make us right with God so that we can have eternal life with him forever (Romans 3:22), and that most certainly does not come from a store!
Dear God,
Thank you for Christmas, Christ with us. Christ with ME! Christ for me! Christ IN me! You are so wonderful to have your will revealed in this way freely and generously. Shopping and traveling doesn’t offer anything close. I am so grateful and relieved at being made right with you simply by believing in your Son. I love you and thank you and I love CHRISTMAS and I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
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