Why I Celebrate Christmas

With the coming of the christmas season I have been contemplating why I celebrate Christmas. I mean it is so easy to get caught up in all the songs, the decorations, and all the gifts and traditions that sometimes I forget what Christmas is all about and why I am celebrating it. I encourage you to take some time in this busy season of the year and think about why you celebrate Christmas. Whether you share your reasons or keep them to yourself taking the time to think it through and organize your thoughts will be well worth your time.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about why I celebrate Christmas is the reason that most christians probably think of first, the birth of Jesus. Now whether or not he was actually born on December 25th is irrelevant, to me it is the celebration of His birth, not the exact day. One of the reasons that I celebrate Jesus' birth is because it is one of the most improbable, impossible, unimaginable things that could ever happen in the eyes of the world. Who would believe that a God who has all power and all authority would humble Himself to become like one of His own creations? Who would ever consider that He would be born in the simplest of abodes and have a feeding trough as a bed? Yet Jesus did all of this for us. In one birth hundreds of years of prophecy's were fulfilled, the Savior of the world was born against all the odds. So I celebrate Christmas because of Jesus' birth and all that it means.

When I continue to think about Christmas one obvious thing that comes to mind is the one thing that every little boy or girl thinks of, gifts. Who doesn't like to receive gifts? But why do we give gifts at Christmas? I can think of a couple of reasons. First, as a reminder of the gifts given to Jesus by the magi, gifts that foreshadowed what was to come, and provided for what was at hand. I also think of a gift given on the night Jesus was born, a gift that saw it's fulfillment years later as He hung on that cross with the sins of the world on His shoulders. A gift that I cannot comprehend or understand, but a gift that I have accepted, the gift of God's only son to die for my sins. A gift of grace and mercy and a gift of love. Many people think of Valentines as the holiday of love but I have to disagree. Christmas is a holiday and a celebration of love. God's love for His people. When I think about gifts at Christmas I think about the reason that we give gifts, or at least the reason that we should give gifts. As an expression of our love for one another, to bless one another and to show the true reason for Christmas, Jesus. There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman called "All About Love" and the title is so very true, as a Christian everything that I do should all be about love. God's love for me, my love for God and my love for my fellow man. If you think about it Christmas, and Christ's birth, isn't about the birth but about the gift. The gift of God's love and forgiveness.

So as I move into this season of gifts and Christmas music, decorations and warm fires, my goal is to remember what Christmas is all about and share the love of God with others around me. Through the carols that I sing and the gifts that I give I seek to give God glory. And like the star in the dark night sky so long ago, I hope to point people toward Jesus, who came to earth as a baby, and gave the greatest gift of love anyone has ever given.