Christmas

This morning I was working in Children's Ministry and we had a cute little puppet show. "Miss Turtle Dove" thought Christmas is about money. Some puppets suggested that it was about music, food or presents. Then the little chipmunk, Chadder, piped up asking that we write on the whiteboard, which had "Christmas" written on it. First the 4th and 5th letters of Christmas, then the first 6 letters of Christmas. It said "Christmas is Christ." It was so cute, but it was a good reminder in all this busyness. It is about Christ.

I've been reading through the minor prophets recently and marveling at the love and forgiveness of Jesus. Just as Hosea bought back his unfaithful wife, Jesus Christ came and bought us back with His blood. Yet so many times we go back to His enemy and live a life that does more to glorify Satan than Jesus Christ.

We may not go out partying, drinking or doing drugs, but we surrender, sometimes, in the little things. We spend our lives focusing on ourselves. We get busy with friends, family, school, work, and sometimes even ministry, forgetting about Him. This is especially true at this time of year. We get wrapped up in the gifts, the meals, the parties of Christmas, maybe even a church Christmas play, and don't give Jesus the center of our Christmas. I wonder how much that hurts Him. He came, He was born into a poor human family, lived a hard life, died a miserable, humiliating death - and what do we do? We celebrate what we get, what we'll eat, who we'll spend the holiday with, how much time we'll get off work or school, and we forget that Christmas is a celebration of what He gave. Instead of focusing on what we're going to get this Christmas, we should be focusing on what we're going to give to Him in gratitude. He gave all this to us, and we, selfish as we are, simply use this as a time to see how much more we can get. Shame on us! So this Christmas let's think about what we can do for Jesus to thank Him for all He does for us every day.