Looking toward Christmas

People face this time of the year with various emotions.  There are people that will celebrate this season without a loved one for the first time.  They face the various celebrations with trepidation and sadness because they will miss the presence and participation of their family member or friend.  Children look toward the season with excitement and anticipation.  Our youngest grandson arrived at our house a few days ago with his "Christmas catalogue" held tightly in his hand.  He was prepared to show us some of the gifts that he had been looking at over the past few weeks.  The other grandchildren have made sure that my wife and I are aware of some of the things on their wish list.  There are families that will face this season with some fear and concern because of the financial challenges that they are facing at this present moment.  These families are working to make sure that they can stretch their budget as far as possible.  But you also have those people that Christmas is just another day on the calendar and they will choose to ignore all of the celebrations as well as all of the concerns of this season of the year.  Each of us may be able to look back across our lives and remember when we were living in one of the above mentioned circumstances and those were the emotions that dominated our lives.

But as believers in Christ we are filled with an unique and powerful hope.  We are able to look past the parties, tinsel, gifts, food, trees, and family celebrations and realize that Christmas allows us to focus on the introduction of our Savior to this world.  We have hope in our life due to the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Our greatest celebration is not the gift or gifts under the tree but our greatest source of celebration is the One who died on the tree over 2,000 years ago.  We look toward our future knowing and understanding that Christ is with us every day of the year and not just a certain designated time of the year.  Christ is not confined to the month of December but He is a daily participant in our walk through life.  Do not let your life be defined by the emotions that you may be feeling at this present time rather allow your life to be defined in the fulfillment of the promises of God.  Luke 2:11, "For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (NKJV)