The Christmas season is upon us, and I for one could not be happier. I love this time of year. It's cold, there is a hustle and bustle in the air that I thrive off of and friends and family come together again. I always hope for a white Christmas, though I am usually disappointed in that regard. Holiday parties are almost every weekend and all the stores are decorated for the season.
However there is one thing I don't really like about this time of year. The fact that we feel that we can no longer say "Merry Christmas." Rather, we have given way to saying "Happy Holidays" and "Seasons Greetings." These two terms are used so often, found in so many greeting cards, that I fear most people don't even give it a second thought. I fear that Christmas, the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, has become another commercialized holiday.
Now, I'm not going to get into a discussion about how Toys-R-Us and Hallmark have captured this holiday (and honestly, Hallmark really holds captive Valentine's Day more than Christmas anyway). People forget. Or they are of a different mind set or belief to think about or understand the real meaning of Christmas. "Christ's mass", as I once heard a minister break down the word, is the time when Christians remember the greatest gift ever given to man - the birth of a Savior that would take on all the sin of man, would die on a cross, so that we might have life everlasting.
Life everlasting. Yeah, that is a pretty long time. If you think about the average age of any man or woman, that seems like a long time. Seventy to eighty years of life on this Earth is a long time. But when you consider 70 to 80 years in the span of eternity, it's hardly even a blip on the time line. So, the fact that God sent his only son to Earth for a mere three decades so that we might live forever...wow. That has to make you stop and think about the real meaning of Christmas.
Forget all the political correctness that plagues our society today. Forget all the different political and world views. Forget religion. Yes, that is what I said. Forget religion. Because it's not about having a religion, it's about having a belief, one in God and in Jesus, and walking that faith every day, even when it's hard. Even when life sucks. Because you know what? Your most terrible day here on Earth cannot in anyway compare to the worst day for Jesus. He died on a cross, perhaps one of the most painful and terrible ways to die. And he did it willingly (although not without agony and pleading for mercy) for us so that we could live forever, if only a blip of that time was here on Earth.
Remember the real meaning of Christmas. A Savior was born. Hope was established. Grace was given. All you need to do is just ask for it.
Merry Christmas, and God Bless Us All!
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