I wrote a version of this on my personal Facebook profile – so I wanted to share it with you as well. Families all over the world recognize the Christmas holiday for a variety of reasons and with various traditions. Because we have young kids, Santa is still part of the fun. But as a follower of Jesus Christ, this is what Christmas really means to me:
Christmas is our family’s celebration of the best gift ever given!
I’m thankful for a compassionate loving God who gives generously in spite of my failings. Believing that the baby born in the stable would one day die in the cross for my sins – well, that is why our family celebrates. We live abundantly because that same baby later conquered death and rose.
We also rejoice that Jesus will come again – he will judge us for our sins but since we are clothed in the righteousness of God because we believe in Jesus, we are free and have nothing to fear. We anticipate the second coming of Christ, whenever that may be.
We celebrate all of this (1) in spite of our sins, and (2) not because we have done many good things.
We celebrate Christmas because of God’s mercy.
Merry Christmas!
-Randy
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