This Christmas

As we come to Christmas we have the now familiar slogans on seeking to retain the roots of the holiday. We are told to ‘Keep Christ in Christmas’ and ‘Jesus is the Reason for the Season.’ I agree with these things. Jesus is the reason for the season and even more importantly He was and is the true gift.

I do have a however. I think as the church we would be more effective if we put more effort into unwrapping this gift. When we receive a gift that we really appreciate we want to take some time and study it and acknowledge the giver. The more we pull back the layers of wrapping in our lives that obscure Jesus, the more this gift will begin to affect our lives and we will reflect more of Jesus. The more we look in appreciation to the one who gave the gift the more our lives and the lives of those around us will be affected.

So this Christmas, while it is good to reflect on the journey to Bethlehem, the Nativity scene and the other trappings of Christmas I have another suggestion. Let’s take some time to meditate on and live out the reality of a verse usually not associated with Christmas. Let’s unwrap this gift!

²⁷  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 (NKJV)