Wow, Christmas Eve! I just love this day. I love the feeling of anticipation it brings. When I was a child, of course it was anticipation over what the NEXT day would bring, all the gifts that would appear under the tree. There is still some of that to it, although now it's more about the anticipation of watching my children delight in what's under the tree. It is such a joy to see their faces and their excitement on Christmas morning as they discover their gifts.
I wonder if God gets to experience the same joy as I do as a parent on Christmas morning. How many people does he find delighting in his Son Jesus as they're tearing into wrapping paper and flinging bows across the floor. Do we get so caught up in the material gifts that we fail to delight in the most precious gift of all?
Sadly, I have to admit that Jesus is not the central figure in our Christmas morning celebration. Yes, we go and worship on Christmas Eve, but by Christmas morning it's all about what's under the tree. My family doesn't know this yet, but I think this year I will start a new tradition. Before we open our gifts, I think we'll hold hands around the tree and offer up a prayer of thanks for Jesus on his birthday. What a gift he is to us! He left a perfect home where he basked in glory with a perfect father to enter a sinful world full of imperfect people. It wasn't because he needed us, or because we had anything to offer him, or because he was lonely. The reason can be boiled down to one small word with huge meaning--love.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
And you know what else is amazing? Even though he has returned to his perfect home in heaven with his perfect father, he has promised to come again to bring believers to that perfect home, where we, too, will bask in glory with him and the Father. How could I not love a god like that? Now there is something to anticipate!
"Come, Lord Jesus." (Rev. 22:20) Merry Christmas!
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