Christmas lights

I was flipping through radio stations last week and came across Christmas music. Yeah, one whole week before Thanksgiving, even. Why not? Stores have had Christmas items for sale displayed since Labor Day. But it doesn’t feel like Christmas.

Does it take party invitations or Christmas cards arriving? Making lots of plans for gatherings with family to make it feel like Christmas? How about putting up the Christmas tree? Or hanging some lights on the house? Going around and looking at other homes that put up lights? Do these activities make it feel like Christmas?

What if “Christmas” wasn’t a feeling but an attitude?

at·ti·tude

[ˈadəˌt(y)o͞od]

NOUN

a settled way of thinking about someone or something

So using the definition of “attitude,” I should have a settled way of thinking about Christmas. How does one do that? It starts with a healthy view of who Jesus Christ is. Yes, the baby that was born in a manger who we celebrate at Christmas. But that same child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. And he started his public ministry that wound up killing him. That baby one day hung on the cross and died for our sins.

Having the right attitude of who Jesus is, generates the right attitude about Jesus and Christmas. That means you can get excited about Christmas all year long because that is where God’s love began: He loved us so much that He gave us his only son. And ya know, I can “feel” God’s love; therefore, it can feel like Christmas!

Let us look only to Jesus. He is the one who began our faith, and he makes our faith perfect. Jesus suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame of the cross as if it were nothing. He did this because of the joy that God put before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne.
Heb. 12:2 (ICB)

In the End

Because of sin, God saw that the earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. It needed light!

God gave his only Son: “Light!”
    And light appeared.
God saw that Light was good
    and separated Light from dark.
God named the light, Jesus,
    he named the dark, satan.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day One of the end.

Light, Jesus dispels darkness. Over takes it. Walk into any room and flip on the switch and immediately darkness is gone. This Christmas, accept the fact that hope remains and any darkness, trouble, depression. pain, or discomfort can be eased or dispelled by the power Jesus has over darkness, over satan, because He is the light of the world, here at Christmas time and forevermore.