I love the holidays. Thanksgiving through Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love all the lights and traditions, the goodies and the sweets. I love everything about Christmas, including the shopping and Santa and the magic of Christmas morning with kids in the house.
I also love the very spiritual part of the holidays. I love this week, when I begin to really think of all the many blessings God has bestowed on me in my lifetime. This year especially has been one of the most blessed and beautiful years I've ever known. It started out a bit rocky, but like He always does, God worked it all out, and I don't have much to complain about.
God has restored a lot to me this year. A lot of the peace and joy that I had lost over the past decade or so have been given back to me tenfold. I am blessed beyond measure. Money is still tight, of course, and I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever reach a point when it isn't, but that is something I have to trust God on. Money is necessary, but could never make me as rich as I am in all other ways. I just can't imagine that more money could have made the good times that much better, and nothing but God helps in the bad times, so I guess it all works out for the best. (This doesn't mean I'm not still hoping for financial blessings.)
A song says "We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. And we offer up to you the sacrifices of thanksgiving and we offer up to you the sacrifices of praise." So, this week as we bring the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving into the house of the Lord, let us be prepared for a holiday season like we've never known before. Let us be prepared to praise God for all He did and all He accomplished on that first Christmas when He sent His only son to earth, a perfect living sacrifice for our sins.
In this time of the year when people get so stressed and worried, I have the perfect remedy. I promise if we bring Christ back into our Christmas, all the worries and stress will fall by the wayside, and we'll find ourselves enjoying the holidays in the pure wholehearted way of a child. We are God's children, and if earthly parents work so diligently to give their children magical holidays, how much more will our heavenly father work to bring us blessed and wonderful holidays.
This is a Christmas poem I wrote this afternoon. Feel free to use it however you'd like and pass it along to anyone you think might enjoy it.
The Christ in Christmas
In a manger so lowly, a stable so mild
The world didn't notice the birth of a child.
A sound in the dark, a baby's soft cry
All overlooked, dismissed with a sigh
The shepherds were busy, the wise men were far
To some appeared angels, to others a star
God got their attention that long ago night
And brought them to gaze on the wonderful sight
Of His son wrapped in swaddling, laid upon hay
A small sacrifice, our sin debt He'd pay
He grew to a man on Galilee's shore
Knowing His purpose to His very core
He died on the cross, in a tomb He was laid
A blood sacrifice, our sin debt He paid.
The world didn't notice the death of this man
They couldn't see in Him God's ultimate plan
In a garden so quiet, one still, silent morn
No fanfare announced it, no trumpeting horn
The man had now risen, our debt had been paid
His body no longer contained by the grave
Centuries have passed since He was born and He died
Since He rose from the grave, our Lord glorified.
In the hustle and bustle of this modern age
In the wonder of science, the magic of stage
God 's been lost in the shuffle, Christ pushed away
"Christmas" replaced by just "Holiday"
So Christmas will come and Christmas will go
And no one will notice, and people won't know
That Christmas began that long ago night
When into the darkness God shone His light
And a child was born, our salvation was sealed
And our sins were forgiven, our broken hearts healed.
As we string out the lights and set up the tree
Let's not forget how this came to be.
Let's keep in mind as the Holidays start
That God's plan became action, though it broke His heart
Many don't care 'bout that small newborn boy
They just think of presents and the next bright new toy
Of money and parties, and goodies, and treats
Not knowing or caring, that one day they'll meet
The man known as Jesus, God's only son
The child born in Bethlehem, noticed by none
The reason we celebrate this time of year
The reason there's Christmas, the reason for cheer
There's a new day that's coming. He promised, you know
He vowed He'd come back, long years ago.
It will be a new Christmas, that day oh so dear
When all will announce, "The Messiah is here."
There won't be a manger, no stable, no hay
The trumpet will sound on that glorious day
There'll be no denying or ignoring Him then,
The one born to die to save us from sin
This time all will notice, He'll come in the clouds
Every tongue will confess, every knee will be bowed
He'll come in His glory, the Savior of man
Once a babe in a manger and God's precious plan.
A man put to death, a body, a tomb
A risen Redeemer who saved us from doom.
So celebrate Christmas, in the here and the now,
But open your heart to the why and the how
The reason for Christmas, that one newborn boy
The hope and the peace, the giver of joy.
He's the way that was promised, the road that God paved
To put Christ in Christmas, so our souls might be saved. |
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