Busy Doing Christmas

In the spirit of Christmas it would be appropriate to ask the question, "How much are we emphasizing the coming of the promised Messiah~~the Savior of the world?" to our families, even more particularly to our children?

I believe that most of the time Christ gets lost in the holly, the mistletoe, the eggnog, the gifts, the lights, the tree, the music, and even within the lives of Christians at Christmas.  The depth of the fulfilled promises of Scripture, the fulfilled prophecy of the prophets, and the witness of thousands of people all testify of the One who came, lived, died, and rose again just as predicted thousands of years prior.  The coming of Christ and the redemption of mankind remains the center-piece of Scripture~~this is the true gift.   Christians have every reason to share this Good News especially at Christmas time!  To merely tell someone "Merry Christmas" is far from the Christmas message of Christmas--yet I suppose it beats "Happy Holidays".

Beyond purchasing gifts for the less fortunate and giving to those who are homeless, are we sharing the best news, which is the Good News of Christmas that our Savior came to die to set men free from the bondage of sin that bans them from Heaven and sends them to Hell?  You see, we must talk about more than just the arrival of Jesus at Christmas time, because there was much more to the prophecy and the story.   Take a few moments to read Isaiah 53 to see what the gift of Christmas really entailed because in that prophecy we find the "gift of salvation"~~a beautiful representation of the love of God through the giving of His Son.

Isaiah gives a description of that special gift from God in Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  The apostle Paul, in Ephesians 2:14, helps us to understand that only this gift of Jesus Christ could remove the bondage of sin from our lives and bring us peace with God the Father and genuine peace with one another.  Truly, "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).  

You see, only telling about the birth of Jesus Christ is really only telling the introduction of the Christmas story.  Let's be careful getting lost in all the tinsel and the holly during this Christmas season and feel the freedom to boldly share with those who truly don't know that Christ came to rescue mankind from their condemned state.  We have much to celebrate with boldness and confidence!