The Truth about Christmas
In modern day thinking we have made truth relative to our
circumstances and desires. As Christmas approaches you may hear
or get asked the question "What does Christmas mean to you?"
Would your answer be based on your circumstances and desires or
the facts?
Your past experiences of the Christmas season will give you
memories, feelings and hopes that will determine how you feel
about this coming Christmas. They may be experiences of joy and
peace, drunken parties and the like, or loneliness, fear and
sadness. Christmas may be something you look forward to or dread
the thought of. It could be a time when you have plenty of
family around but wish you didn't or a time when you spend money
you can't afford. It could be a time when you enjoy spending
money on gifts for the family or simply wish you had money or
family.
All these dynamics come into play centered on our experiences,
our expectations and the ever-present commercial drive around
us. The sad part about this is simply that in our efforts to
enjoy or get through the Christmas season, we are prone to
neglect the truth about Christmas.
You may be tempted to think this is some religious junk. Nothing
is further from the truth. Christmas is about "Emmanuel" which
means "God with us". The essence of Christmas is not religion,
parties, families, gifts or spending money, although all may be
quite legitimately involved, the true essence is about God
coming to mankind so that He could be with us and have a
relationship with us.
We can do something religious like go to a church service, yet
still miss the point. It's not about religion it's about
relationship. To understand the full meaning of Jesus's birth,
you have to put it into the context of his death at Easter. He
was born for the purpose of dying in our place on the cross for
the cost of our wrongdoing. The point of his birth, life and
death was so we could have a relationship with him now and on
into eternity after we pass from this life.
Some people ask, "What's the point of life?" The point of life
is for the purpose of relationship with God. Have you got the
point yet?