There is a certain renaissance with Christmas that is unique to this holiday more than any other. It has a way of bringing you back to a different time, a younger time and some would say a more innocent time.
A time of rebirth when you would dream all year of that special day that would come with its surprises, its excitement and most of all….gifts.
There are probably a few among us who had moments dread at the thought of Christmas as well. Would those relatives you only saw once a year come back again this year? Would you be forced to sleep with your brother or sister to make room for them while they occupied your room? Could you endure another meal that was only trotted out once a year, and for good reason… I mean… really…yams? Really?
And I suppose there are those who are ambivalent about this great time of year. Maybe a hurt that has kept them from experiencing all the joys the season can offer. Maybe they work in retail and see Christmas as one long nightmarish sale after another with people so grumpy it must have been for them that this savior was born!
Renaissance can be good; it can be bad or indifferent. I choose for it to be a good memory.
And this act of bringing us back to our earliest childhood memories might not be an accident.
We live in a world that seems to spin out of control with every passing day. The best of intentions are often lost in the worst of responsibilities. A job, a house that needs attention, a sick pet, a child’s sports activity… all seem to make time get stuck in the fast forward mode and how easy it is for us to let the switch stay there and not slow down.
Maybe God knew what he was doing with this special holiday. Maybe this is the yearly break that is applied but for a moment, to tell us to slow down and see what is happening around us.
The smell of a fresh cut tree, hanging lights under the eaves, dragging out the ornaments and the smell of baked cookies for Santa will make most of us stop, if only for a moment and take stock in what we are celebrating.
Take that moment right now. Remember what this is about….. Something magnificent happened 2000 years ago.
God, in His loving desire to bring us back to a place of fellowship with Him, brought forth a child that would interact with His creation and ultimately save them.
We were created for fellowship with God; we turned from that perfect purpose and started down a road that continues to crumble to this day. But God in his infinite patience and grace had other plans. Plans to bring us back to that place of deep fellowship and friendship. But it required something of God. It required a sacrifice that he knew his creation was not able to fulfill.
Thus that baby.
That baby, meek and mild… wrapped in rags and lying in a manger…that baby was going to be the way back.
Christmas is a renaissance that brings us back to a time that heralded the coming Savior of mankind. Those who allow themselves to see it as a chance to get together with friends and family, as a chance to spread good cheer, as a chance to sing beautiful songs, as a chance to regift that fruitcake… see one part of this season but to see the whole season we must go back to where it started and understand that this birth was promised by God. Was delivered by God and through this birth, all mankind may now be birthed as a new creation in God.
It is a Merry Christmas when you choose to make it so….
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