And so it is here, the end of the year once again. It may be
that the older we get the faster the time passes. Relativity, I know, but this
year went flying. And wanting to or not it’s difficult not to get carried away
with all the movement that this season brings about.
This year I decided to play differently than everyone else,
if you don’t know anything about me you should know I don’t like to go with the
flow, I like to do my own thing and I don’t follow the masses. With so many things to do, (house for sale,
child studying at home, new puppy, etc.) I decided to not to decorate my house
for Christmas. And even though it’s liberating, that is not the reason I wanted
to do this.
I, for one want to teach my child that this season is not
about a fat guy dressed in red that takes the credit for all the presents we
have to buy. I also want her to know that it is not about decorations, or food,
or presents. I want her to know that the real reason we celebrate is because
over two thousand years ago the most wonderful thing happened and we should not
forget, not set it aside while this world fills us with its own ideas and ideals.
This year instead of a Christmas tree we are setting up an
empty cross. Why? Well, you see it is true that Jesus came down to earth to be
born as a man, to be delivered as a tiny baby, innocent, defenseless and
blameless, but He didn’t stay there.
Now, please I know this is an important part, He didn’t stay
a baby, but He grew up still blameless and lived the life I couldn’t and paid for
what I have done. He took the cross for my sins. He died on a cross, BUT He
didn’t stay there. His body was put in a tomb, but He didn’t stay there either.
I simply don’t want to get carried away by the insistence of
this world of forgetting WHO is the real reason we celebrate, not for gifts,
not for traditions, but for Him and He being God is very alive. He is not on the cross anymore.
And as they were
afraid, and bowed down their
faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
Luke 24:5
So this year, and maybe all of the years to come, I won’t
decorate a tree that may look beautiful, but has nothing to do with my Savior.
I won’t fill my house with fake snow and little bears dressed in red suits. I
won’t fill the house with little electric lights that shine only at night.
But this year I will fill my house with one light, a true
light, the light of my Savior. Knowing that I could not pay my debt, He came to
this earth over two thousand years ago and paid it for me.
For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6
