Finding Christmas

From about October we are made aware, in the world around us, that Christmas is on its way. Toys, decorations and reminders flood the shelves of our local shops, with motivations of what we should buy, why we should buy it and …. most importantly… how to finance buying any new luxury.

It becomes easy to fall prey to the suggestions and lures of new and exciting things at Christmas, especially when it comes to our children. Many times we get carried away with new gadgets, toys and trinkets in an attempt to ensure a happy and fun-filled Christmas season. What we fail to realise, and what shops displays and campaigns choose to ignore is that Christmas is still about more than what we can buy. It’s still about more than the latest and greatest gifts around, more than the best holiday destination and more than what we hope to receive. While we are hunting and striving for happiness and contentment in what we can purchase, where we can go and what we can boast, the heart and true essence of Christmas stays firm.

It lives in a promise we were given many years ago. It lives in the reassurance of a saviour who was born, who lived, who gave an example we can only strive to imitate and who died, bravely and quietly to save each one of us. This promise lives daily. It is something we can be assured is always there, but it is a promise enhanced and exemplified at this time. It is the reality of a Father who loved us enough to send His son, to be born in a stable, raised by mere mortals and killed by those who chose to not know better. It is a promise sent from a Father who saw value in each one of us, is proud enough of the people we are to want to save us and give us a hope. It’s a promise of happiness and a blessed future – something we don’t have to search for, hunt for or buy. It’s a promise worth more than anything we could hope for on earth, a promise stable, secure and never fading. It holds no expiry date. It remains valid, of full worth and available to anyone who chooses to accept it.

So as we draw closer to the actual day this year, what are you hoping for, looking for, focused on? Where does Christmas lie for you and what are you going to do with the biggest present already under your tree?