Missing the Point

Christmas is easily robbed by secular culture, fantasy and myth.

I was reading in Greg Laurie's new book, 'His Christmas Presence' about a real story of a lady who took her son to Sunday School and he had heard the story of the Lord's birth for the first time. When he came home, he excitedly told his Mom all about the story and said, "Mom!, I heard about the first Christmas story today, but this one didn't have Santa Claus or elves in it, but there were three skinny guys on camels who had toys to deliver and they didn't have Rudolph to guide them with his bright light, they had a star instead to guide them and light their way"

Some people in this world can be so stuck in fantasy and myth, that they miss the real point of Christmas. I guarantee most kids in our country can quote word for word 'Rudolph, the Red Nose Reindeer', but can they quote Romans 6:23- "For wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord". I am even speaking about church kids who seem to know more about Frosty and Elves more than their Lord Christ. Instead of getting the young ones excited about Christmas presents, let's get them even more excited about His Christmas Presence.

A mother one Christmas Eve was stressing and trying to buy a bunch of last minute gifts at the mall. As she was frantically shopping around, she realized that she lost her three year old son and when she found him, he was looking in the window with his little nose pressed against it staring at a nativity scene and said, 'Mommy! Look it's baby Jesus in the hay'. She jerked him away and said, 'We don't have time for that and don't you realize Mommy is trying to get ready for Christmas".

We read in the Gospels that there was no room for Him in the Inn and in fact it seems that the only place that was made room for Him was on the cross. As the hymn 'Joy to the World' says, 'Let every heart, prepare Him room', so may we prepare room in our hearts for His wonderful presence to invade.