What Christmas Can’t Do

As the Christmas season descends, we’re seeing countless commercials of things we’re supposed to buy.

The implied promise is that if you give this, or if you receive that, then you’ll be happy. Certainly, there’s a rush of excitement in receiving a very special gift. But for the most part, you probably can’t remember what you got for Christmas last year, even though it seemed so important then.

It reminds me of the husband and wife who went Christmas shopping at the mall. The husband wandered off, so his wife called him and asked where he was.

“Remember that jewelry store we went to 10 years ago?” the husband asked. “You saw that beautiful diamond necklace, and I said that I couldn’t afford it then, but one day when I had a little more money, I would buy it for you.”

“Yes, I remember,” his wife said, trying to catch her breath.

“Well, I’m at the donut store next door to it.”

Christmas, commercially at least, cannot live up to the promise, to the standards we’ve set in our minds. At best, Christmas is a promise of greater things to come. However, it’s not Christmas that will give us life; it’s Christ.

Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 NKJV).

I have found that the greatest moments of Christmas are not the ones we get psyched about. Rather, it’s those in-between moments. Like the moments when we’re with family—not only our actual flesh-and-blood families but also the family of God.

So slow down this season. Enjoy it and take it in. Jesus was born in Bethlehem to bring life in all its fullness.