For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:11-14

This is the season of Advent, and during this first week we will focus on hope. Hope has many definitions, but the one we use is a person. Jesus is our hope, our blessed hope as the above scripture reveals.

What’s your plan for Christmas? Mine tends to read like this: decorate the house and tree, get the Christmas cards mailed, make candy and cookies, buy presents, plan the family gift-giving and eating gathering. It’s no wonder then, that when it’s over, I’m exhausted. I dread putting up the Christmas decorations, I dread getting the pounds off that I put on with all the candy and cookies, I dread seeing my credit card balance from all the spending, and I’m worn out from all the celebrating. That just sounds awful, doesn’t it?  Why would we put ourselves through it? We say we do it for everyone else, because it’s expected of us. Really?

Now I know some people don’t go in for all that. They don’t decorate, they don’t participate in gift giving or family gatherings. But the people I know who are like that usually have less than positive reasons—Christmas is a depressing time for them, and they just want to get through it, ignore it and hope it goes away uneventfully. I can see that, and I understand. Really, I do. But it sounds equally awful.

What if we celebrated Christmas another way? It might only take changing our mind about what we are doing. What if our mindset was totally on celebrating the birth of the Christ Child, the arrival of the Savior of the world? If so, then:

• We might still decorate, but we are decorating for the most important birthday party in the history of the world. We are honoring our Savior by putting out our special beautiful seasonal décor, our best things that we save for such a time as this.
• We might still cook, but we are preparing these foods to offer hospitality and our most delicious treats in honor of our King and to welcome others into His presence.
• We might still send Christmas cards, but the purpose is to remind others of the coming of the Christ Child, which we can do with nativity-themed cards and messages, and even religious-themed stamps.
• We might still give gifts, but it’s all in recognition of God who loved us so much that He gave us His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life.
• We might still celebrate with family and friends, but we do so with the intention of sharing the gospel message through our love, words and deeds.

So, again I ask, What’s your plan for Christmas? Is it to follow the culture? Or is it to be intentional?

I pray that you will enjoy Christmas for all it’s worth. I pray that the Holy Spirit guide you and strengthen you as you dedicate this season to the celebration of Jesus, who as God incarnate, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, came to save his people from their sins. Our blessed hope. What a gift!!

In Christ,

Judy