Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Getting into the Christmas spirit has taken on new meaning for me throughout the years. When I was little I would make a paper chain out of construction paper and number each one. I would hang it on a hook that was screwed into the ceiling and I would rip one paper chain link off each day to count down to Christmas. I would usually make my chain in September, so it was pretty long at first. And then I would get really excited when the paper chain would get short enough that it wasn't lying on the ground anymore. Christmas was coming soon! Toys! Games! Candy! Christmas Specials on TV! Christmas tree! Pretty Christmas lights!

As I've gotten older I've found it harder to get into what we call the Christmas Spirit. I can't find it in the same things that I did when I was a kid. Although I did sit down with my fiancée and her little four year old boy the other night to make a paper chain and it brought back memories. I think that's where it started for me this year. Then I went to my church for a service we call Carols and Candles. It was a great time for fellowship with friends and family and that got me even more in the mood for Christmas.

I'm still unemployed and that has really been bogging me down, I never thought I would get excited for Christmas this year. But I'm starting to. It's almost like the Whos in Whoville. They woke up on Christmas morning with nothing but each other and they were thankful for that. I need to be thankful for what I have rather than worry about what I don't have. What I have is a family that loves and cares for me. I have a great girl in my life who will soon be my wife and that's all I've every wanted. She has a little boy who looks up to me and I'm going to try to be a good father figure even though I'll never be his dad. Why should I be sad, I have everything I need to be joyful. I have a God who loves me and a savior named Jesus Christ who sacrificed everything for me and you and all of humanity.

There is a saying that goes "Jesus is the reason for the season". But what happens when someone hears that saying and all they know about Christmas is trying to get a good parking spot so they can go Christmas shopping and try to buy everyone the things they want?

Is Jesus the reason why we go into debt this time of year?

Is Jesus the reason why people get stressed during the holidays?

Is Jesus the reason why we get annoyed while trying to string up the lights on the house?

Is Jesus the reason why some people get trampled in the stores and killed just to get that one item that's on sale?

NO!

That's our own stupid fault. We've made Christmas into the monstrosity it has become.

Jesus is the reason for the season because he came to show us how to live. He showed us how to love our family, our friends, our neighbors, our enemies. He came to give of himself, not to have things given to him. He was a teacher, a servant, a savior. That's what the Christmas Spirit is all about. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of that. And it isn't something that should just come once a year, but all year long, continuously forever and ever.

Amen.