Yesterday’s sermon started at church, and our pastor said something that ‘shocked’ me! Let me explain. At our church we have a live outdoor play, ‘The Christmas Journey’, that you walk through. We have live animals, which include a camel, donkeys, cattle, chickens, and other farm animals. Anyway, the play, which has many live scene’s playing out as you walk through them, depict the life of Jesus, from events leading up to His birth, through events leading up to His death.
Our pastor told the story of a young lady who went through the ‘Christmas Journey’, and at the end, she confessed that she never realized that Christmas was all about Jesus. WOW! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that someone here in these United States of America would be blind to such news. But there you have it!
I have always thought that there are parts in the world that may not know about Jesus, but that ‘had’ to be shrinking, due to social media and the news of the world happening instantly with the internet and our access to it through our phones, tablets and computers.
Now I grew up going to a Christian grade school, and of course, to Sunday mass with my family from the get go. So the story of Christmas being about the birth of Jesus has always been part of my life. With all the songs of Christmas, the billboards, the stories of Christmas, the movies and tv shows, how could one not know?
I guess when the bible tells us to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’, our work is ongoing. It is not finished. It must be accomplished. All must hear about the name of Jesus. All should believe in the name of Jesus. All should love the name of Jesus.
Christmas is about God’s love for us! He ‘gave’ His Son Jesus to us, to live among us, to teach us, then to die for us. Christmas is about ‘giving’. We give gifts to family and friends because we love them and appreciate having them in our lives. God gave us Jesus because He loves us! Jesus loves us so much, He died a horrible death in our place. Because of His love for us, His dying for us, God raising Him from the dead into eternal life, Jesus gives us the ‘gift’ of salvation through Him. If we ‘accept’ this ‘free’ gift, then the price of our sins is paid. It is up to us to accept this free gift, no one can do it for us. When we accept this free gift, our live’s will change, for we are now a child of God, and Heaven awaits us when God calls us home.
Accept this gift from God. It costs nothing.
Merry Christmas!
