Around this time of year you may see signs reminding you to “Keep Christ in Christmas!” That’s a good reminder, because we’re tempted to get so busy with celebrating the earthly traditions of the holiday- shopping for presents; putting the lights and the tree up; baking cookies and planning family gatherings- that we lose sight of the real thing Christmas is supposed to be about.
What is Christmas about? The angel said it to the shepherds on the first Christmas night: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Lk 2:11 NIV) I hope this Christmas the biggest part of your celebration will be remembering that Jesus the Savior was born for you, to pay for your sins and win you a place with him in heaven forever as a gift of God’s grace.
There will be some great opportunities to do that in some of the special Christmas services that area Christian congregations, including the ones I serve, will be holding this season. If you don’t know much about the one whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, or what it means, come and find out!
But I think there’s another, even greater danger Christians are tempted to fall prey to than leaving Christ out of Christmas: That’s leaving Christ out of our everyday lives.
The devil would love it if Christians would all confine Christ mainly to an hour per week or so of their lives, at most, when they go to church- and live the rest of their lives without thinking much about Christ or letting him make much of a difference in their lives. The world around us will tempt Christians to do just that. And the sinful flesh that still lives inside of Christians will tempt them to feel it’s easier to live their daily lives in this way, because then they fit in better with the world around them and many of the people around them.
But Christ isn’t just for Christmas; and he’s not just for Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. If you belong to Christ, then he is THE most important part of your life- He is your life! - 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Sadly, we Christians, myself included, don’t always treat him that way. But when we remember the One we belong to- the same One whose birth we celebrate at Christmas- that makes a wonderful difference in our lives, whatever day of the week or year it is.
When we remember him, we remember that we have forgiveness of all our sins in him, and the privilege of being God’s children as a gift, through faith in him, who paid for our sins on his cross.
When we remember him, we remember the guidance he has given us for our daily lives, that blesses us and others when we follow it- whether it’s “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” or “You cannot serve both God and money,” or “Seek first his (God’s) kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (food, clothes, etc.) will be given to you as well.” (Mt 5:44, 6:24 & 6:33 NIV)
When we remember him, we have the security of knowing death won’t be the end for us, but he will raise us to eternal life with him; and the security of knowing he who so loves us and has such power is with us and watching over us in love right now.
When we remember him, we know our life on earth is not meaningless, but we get to do all things to his glory and give him praise, and to be his tools to pour out his gracious love on others, and it brings joy to him, to whom we belong, and joy to our hearts, too!
Dear fellow Christians, keep Christ in Christmas; but even more, keep him in every day of your life! Amen.
