What is your favorite Christmas memory? Is it a childhood Christmas morning when you awoke to see a bike under the tree? Or a family member you hadn’t seen in a while being home for the holidays? Or a family dinner with turkey and the fixin’s? Christmas can bring great joy.
For some, Christmas is a difficult time. Remembering the loss of a loved one. Or being a family with little means while surrounded by friends with plenty. Or struggling with illness while those around you are laughing and celebrating. Christmas can be rough.
The Hallmark movies, Black Friday sales, and holiday parties can all be a distraction. They grab our attention to focus on ourselves, overemphasizing the commercial aspects of a celebration that is so much more than tinsel and red nosed reindeer.
My invitation to you this Christmas season is this: every day, just stop and be still for a few minutes. Remember that we are celebrating an amazing miracle. Jesus–the Son of God, the I AM, the wonderful counselor, mighty God, prince of peace, the second person of the Trinity–came to earth to seek and save lost people like you and me.
As Paul reminds us in Philippians 2 (link), he did not count his equal status with the God the Father something to hold onto. Instead he put it aside to become human and walk among us. He took on all of our physical weaknesses, worldly challenges, and relational betrayals. He suffered unjust persecution from the religious and political leaders of the time. He took our sins on himself, paid the penalty for our rebellion, putting us back in right status and relationship with God. His beating, death, and resurrection were our ticket to eternal life in the presence of God.
Imagine the frustration Joseph must have felt on that day 20 centuries ago. A brand new wife, pregnant–like, really pregnant–no decent place to stay, and then a baby being born. There were no loved ones or turkey dinners that day. (He also didn’t have to put a crib together, so there was that.)
But there was a kind innkeeper offering the only space he had, and shepherds sent by angels, and wise men bringing gifts. And there was a baby boy, promised in a dream, protected on the journey, now swaddled and cozy in a manger.
So this Christmas season, amidst the noise and distraction of a shopping and TV movie season, whether you are feeling cheerful or sad, take some time every day to be still. Remember that day so long ago and the sequence of events it started. Remember the love of a Father to offer his own son. Remember that Jesus came knowing what would happen, and what it would accomplish. And be grateful for a God who never abandons his children, and even now, through the Spirit, inhabits the hearts of those who follow him
So, as you gather with loved ones to celebrate the birth of Christ, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. We are so grateful for the opportunity to partner with you in this ministry, and we look forward to all that God has in store for the coming year. May you and your family experience the peace, joy, and blessings of this season in abundance.
From all of us at Man in the Mirror, Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! May you continue to grow in faith, love, and leadership in the days ahead.
