Receive the Gift of Christmas

We all know this time of the year can lead to stress and the blues due to the hustle, bustle, and preparations made for family festivities and other gatherings. There is a lot to do: buy gifts (after thinking of said gifts), go to Christmas programs, bake or make Christmas goodies, travel or prepare your home for guests. It really is astonishing how much we must accomplish this time of the year. However, I urge you to take some time and relax. Christmas is not about gifts, Santa Claus, or even getting together with family. The true meaning of Christmas is the miracle of a virgin birth and the baby boy who came of that union between Mary and the Holy Spirit. That baby boy who would grow to become the King of Kings. That baby boy who humbly became flesh after sitting on a throne in heaven. That baby boy who died for your sins (and mine) on a cross at Calvary. So, while you are preparing for the end of this week, please keep this in mind:

C - Come 

    ...to the season with an open mind.

H - Hear

    ...the message like it's all brand new.

R - Remember

    ...what you already know.

I - Imagine

    ...the Giver

S - Search

    ...your heart.

T - Trust

    ...that the gift is for YOU.

Please, let go of the Norman Rockwell portrait of the perfect Christmas. Your kids and in-laws will fight. Someone won't get what they wanted for Christmas. And your children will not eat the green bean casserole. However, you are all together in fellowship and love even if only for a few hours. Rejoice at the good moments!!
We've all heard or read Luke 2 about the Christmas story. Gabriel coming to Mary, Elizabeth bearing John, the magi traveling from the East, the baby born in a manger. Re-read the Christmas story, watch The Nativity Story movie, watch A Charlie Brown Christmas! Make time for Christ this Christmas and really open your ears like you're hearing it for the first time!
Remember the reason for the season. It's not the Christmas lights or holiday decorations - those are nice but unnecessary parts of the holidays. It's not about time off from work or pumpkin pie. It's about a Savior being born in the humblest of places; born to a virgin mother, ready to bear all our sins.
God has given us a gift in this child. Eternal life is coming to one and all, but where you spend it is up to you. Before Christ there was no hope, our debt of sin was too great. Now we have a chance to choose eternal life in heaven!!
Is this gift for you? Look in your heart and ask yourself where you want to spend eternity. It's a hard question not to be taken lightly but not to hesitate on either. God is giving YOU a chance at grace. YOU, yes, you who just yelled at her kids or coveted that house. Yes, YOU who raced through traffic with road rage or "forgot" to pay for that tape at the bottom of your cart at the store. Yes, YOU the perfect mom or the sinful teenager. Yes, YOU the workaholic husband or the newborn baby.
Christ's gift is for one and all - remember, this is the season of togetherness. This is the good news for mankind - and you are part of mankind.
This Christmas, make it not about the presents under the tree, but about the present that God has offered you. He's waiting for your choice. Will you, today, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of all your sins, taking on your debt with his shed blood, so that you can walk in eternity with Him?!