TRUE CHRISTMAS
If you've
been blue because this year doesn't measure up, because the kids won't be
coming home for Christmas, because you can't buy all the things you want to
buy, because you just haven't been able to get in the spirit of things — it's
not too late. You still have time to get on the right track. I encourage you to
take some time between now and Christmas Day to thank God for the people he has
brought your way. Thank him for the blessings he has put in your life. You may
be struggling with unmet needs right now and you may be dealing with some
difficult relationships — we all are. But you can take a few minutes to forget
about what’s missing, and focus instead on what exists — the many blessings
that God has given you.
We have a bad
habit of making Christmas all about “me” — my expectations, my wants, my needs,
my preferences. The result is, often, that Christmas disappoints us or
frustrates us in one way or another, year in and year out.
In Psalm 80
David repeats the same phrase three times. He says, “Turn us again to yourself,
O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.” (Psalm
80:3) By sending his Son Jesus Christ into the world, he turned the world back
to him, and he made his face to shine upon us. This is the only way we could be
saved.
The paradox
is that Christmas really is about you — you are the reason that God sent his
Son into the world. It was the only way you could be saved. He sent Jesus to be
born in a manger and to die on the cross for your sins so that you could turn
back to him, so that you could experience the forgiveness of sin, so that God’s
face could shine upon you. Only then can you be saved.
THIS IS A TRUE STORY ABOUT CHRISTMAS .
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