Focus on Christmas

If there would be one word to describe Christmas, it would be “giving.”  We think of giving gifts, but we also think of giving our time and a little more of ourselves to those around us.  But for many people, Christmas represents loss.  This makes it a difficult time of year and emotionally draining.  For adults, there is the loss of childhood and the joy and excitement we felt about Christmas then.  For many others, they grieve the loss of a loved one or loved ones.  Many people feel a loss in their pocket books and they wonder how they’re going to be able to pay for a nice Christmas.  And still others are single and alone, feeling lonely, and they wonder how they’ll make it through the holidays alone.  In fact, no other time of year emphasises love and family more than at Christmas.  You see it in all the ads, the Christmas movies, and even flyers that come to the door, urging us to buy for that “special person.”  So if we are alone or have just lost someone dear to us, the pain intensifies.   

And yet, sometimes it is only through loss we discover a much deeper meaning to Christmas than just parties and gifts.  It is through personal loss that we find true meaning in life, and through loss we gain what we could never have otherwise obtained.  Giving gifts is one small example of loss, but the gain is the great joy in giving.  And Christmas itself represents the great gain to the world of the promised Messiah and Savior, Jesus Christ.  But the real emphasis is on the loss of His life for our sake, the reason He came to earth in the first place.  In order to find Him and the incredible life He offers, we must also lose our life as we know it.  To find out more, please click here.    

Rather than focus on our loss, in order to find true joy, we must also focus on our gains.  We need to look at all the beauty in life now, the gift of family, friends, the joy of children and grand-children.  There’s a healing that takes place when we truly appreciate life and most of all, the greatest gift of Jesus and the new life and eternal life He freely gives.  I have a wall art saying posted on my kitchen wall just above my calendar that says, “Count Your Blessings.”  As I rush around my day, I sometimes glance at this saying, and if I am feeling down, I immediately start to think of all the things I have to be thankful for.  Christmas is one of those times that God’s blessings seem to magnify.  And the great hope we all have is that because of Jesus’ birth, He is the true light that dispels the darkness in our world, and fills our cup with joy all through the year. 

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2  He was with God in the beginning.

Joh 1:3  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Joh 1:4  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

Joh 1:5  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Joh 1:14  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. NIV 

This is our great hope of Christmas, and when we focus on Jesus, our gain is so much greater than all of our losses, if we but put our trust in Him.