Sunday, December 19, 2010

Making This Holiday Count



Every year the world enters into the Christmas season. It’s a time of joy as if it’s un-American to walk the streets without a smile on your face. It is a time when you will see strangers helping out one another in ways we don’t get to see throughout the year. It’s a time when arguments seem to be brushed aside temporarily so that festivities can prevail. It’s a time of the year where mankind seems to open up their hearts and love one another in a way we lose track of throughout the pages of the year. I truly love the Christmas season for it brings out the best in people, and it seems like society awakens in a way we rarely get to see after January 1st.

My favorite part of Christmas is how for one month, just one month, I get to see Christ get his share of praise that often gets clouded out as the days go on. For me Christmas is a reminder and a refreshment of how wonderful God truly is. John 3:16-17 says it best:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (NIV)

For so many years I took this holiday for granted and only looked forward to it because it gave me some time off of work, getting a present I wanted, and getting my Spanish food fix for the year. Now, For me Christmas is a reminder of one of the greatest gifts God could have ever gave mankind,,,,his son Jesus. I mean God could have easily wiped Adam and Eve out and started from scratch with mankind until we got it right, but he didn’t. He allowed us, you, and me to be created with a free will to make choices on our own accord. He would bless us with his son to give his life so that mankind could be forgiven for the mistakes of our forefathers and be able to finally come to him with no strings attached. This was something mankind had never experienced before, the ability to openly come to him one on one. It is awesome to have a month where Jesus us gloried everywhere you look.

We as a nation are so blessed to live in a country that comes with so many freedoms and privileges, but it’s the holidays that open my eye’s to the suffering of others. I want to encourage those reading this to please open your hearts to those around you. There are so many people out there who won’t share the same joys we will this holiday. There are families with children that won’t have presents under the tree this year. People will spend their Christmas sitting in shelter’s hungry while you and I are filling our stomachs with wonderful dishes of food. There will be people sitting in hospitals watching loved ones in pain, while you and I end the night in laughter. There will be people sitting alone with no one to share this wonderful season with, while we are sitting with family and friends. We are all strapped financially this year but I pray that all reading this will in someway look for the opportunity to bless someone this holiday and show them what the Christmas sprit is all about.

I love this holiday and my heart often grows heavy as December 25th comes and goes. I miss the glowing houses, the joy and love people share with one another. I miss watching people go out of their way to help others as they do during Christmas. I miss seeing enemies become friends for the sake of the holiday, or even the crabby becoming happy. Most of all I hate seeing the nativity scenes removed and watching Jesus fade into the shadows until next year. If only every month were Christmas I think society as a whole would be so much more civilized. Just remember this holiday to set some time aside and thank God and Jesus for the greatest gift mankind has ever received, his sacrifice, and lets not loose track of what Christmas is truly about.

I hope all have a wonderful and blessed holiday, and if your one of those going through a ruff time this holiday I pray that someone would enter your life this week and shed a little light into your dark day. Just remember there is a God up there watching you and he loves you just as much as those who lives seem so much better off then yours. I encourage you this Christmas to look for a local church if you are not attending one and introduce yourself to Jesus, he’s waiting to meet you. If you are going to church already and having a ruff time, I encourage you to reach out to your pastoral staff and let them wrap their arms around you and put people in your life that can help. If you are reading this and you know of someone going through a ruff time this Christmas, be an angel in their life and see how you can help make their Christmas one to remember. We can all make a difference in the lives of others if we take a moment to look outside the mirror. Have a blessed holiday.