Christmas is over for another year.  How did the celebration go?  For the retail industry this is the culmination of a big shopping season that started in October.  But many will find themselves today surrounded by gifts to be returned, tinsel to be picked up, and a tree that’s become a fire hazard?  Diets have been blown, the credit cards worn from use, and kids are now crying they’re bored.  What went wrong?  Isn’t this supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year?  Even believers in Jesus who really want to keep Christmas about Christ can find themselves sucked in and spit out like a recycled tree! 

The way that Christmas is celebrated in our time is a far cry from the original Christmas.  Christ entered the world humbly, with no fanfare, and without all the things we would term as necessities.  He left the glories of heaven to be born in a stable, placed in a manger, and wrapped in cloths.  And yet, there was a celebration in the shepherd’s fields that brought out the heavenly host!  What made the coming of Jesus good news of great joy?  Simply put, it was the recognition of need.  The world needs a Savior, Immanuel, Christ the Lord – and there is nothing in the world that can fill that need except God Himself.  If after our traditional celebration is over there is still a sense of incompleteness, all the better to remind us that our hope is not in this world but in God alone. 

Someone recently said, “For Christians, everyday is Christmas!”  Daily we can celebrate God’s love so clearly revealed in sending His Son to be our Savior and Lord!  We rejoice that because of the sacrificial life and death of Jesus Christ we have peace with God now and eternally! We need not settle for the holiday spirit, we have His Holy Spirit!   He has given us gifts that enable us to serve Him and others, and are blessed in the process!  We aren’t dependent on bright lights to illuminate the darkness because in Jesus we have the Light of Life! 

Jesus’ first coming was for the purpose of bearing sin and opening the way for reconciliation between God and man.  Though Israel waited long for Messiah, in God’s perfect time He came and accomplished all He purposed to do the first time.  But that was not the end of the story.  While we gratefully remember that Jesus Christ came as a baby to Bethlehem, we anxiously anticipate His return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  He will return for those who belong to Him, who have placed their faith in God’s Messiah Jesus.  And that is eternal Good News of Great Joy!!!