It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. During this time, the days are short and the nights are long. The holiday spirit oozes from the lights streaming from the trees and mixes with the smell of apple pies and various other winter treats. Snow blankets the earth and a golden silence pervades the atmosphere. The whole world seems to hold its breath as it waits… Every year during this season, I have never been failed to be reminded of the meaning and purpose of Christmas. For the privileged, this holiday signals the coming of a New Year, the end of finals for college students, accountants turning in their end of the year reports, people from all over the world returning to their families, warm hugs and laughter and joy and tears and kisses and carols and songs and celebrations and cider and blankets and fire places and hot chocolate and stories and chestnuts and bells and rest. With the fulfillment of every basic need, what does the world still wait for? When the New Year comes around and the spirit of Christmas ends, the waiting seems to end as well, or at least a part of it. Our lives return to their normal schedules and the pressures and stresses of “everyday” weigh down on us. The initial fulfillment no longer last past the next exam or project or job or workday or heartbreak or debt or cancer or hunger or daily struggles of life. These daily struggles are another form of waiting; waiting for the next vacation, the next paycheck, the next raise, for a better time, for the next fun event, for you to forget her, for you to forget him, for you to laugh again; this waiting has been robbed of the peace that filled it during the Christmas season. And when your time on this earth has reached its end, when you have exhausted the fun you can have, bought everything you need, seen every monument you dreamed of, eaten every delicacy from every cuisine, is that the end of your waiting? If you are still waiting even at that point, then what’s missing? The key word that I left out from my list of winter holiday trademarks is Love. This is not because I do not think that it exists during this time. On the contrary, love during this time is so thick that it becomes almost tangible. Everything on that list screams love. Rather, the love that I speak of is an ultimate love that leads to ultimate fulfilment and is permanent. For me and my brothers and sisters, Christmas marks the moment when it was made possible to find this ultimate love, and that love takes on the form of who this day was named after. This was the day that Jesus Christ was born into this world. For me and my brothers and sisters, this person is so worthy that we give up every Sunday morning to sing about him and to learn about him. We have taken upon ourselves the identity of “Christians,” which in literal translation means “Christ Followers.” We close our eyes before every meal and whisper things under our breath to an untouchable being. Some of us have been moved to the point where we sit in a tub of water and have a pastor push us down and bring us back out to represent our devotion to him. We gather around campfires and hear stories about him and experience an undeniable conviction in our souls that binds our hearts and minds and causes us to dance and sing. So who is this Jesus and what has he done that causes people of all kinds; young and old, tall and short, dark and pale, rich and poor; to do such things? Jesus. Is. The Son of God. And God. Is. The one who created all things, is in all things, and is through all things. And He who taught the stars to shine created you. If you think you are random chance, then I implore you to reconsider. God held you in His hands before the world began to breathe and in His exact timing He gave you life in the exact moment that you are living in. And not only did He place you on this earth, he who is in heaven come down and took upon himself the embodiment of flesh into the form of Jesus Christ. And Jesus, just as he and his heavenly Father do, Loves us. He loves us despite our curves and imperfections. Even if we do not meet the requirements laid out by society, even if we fall short of the expectations placed on us by those around us and even ourselves even if we are disappointed in ourselves, even if we are ashamed of our past, even if we have hurt others, even if we have failed time and time again, even if we are disgusted by the things we do, even if we try to run and hide and duck and slide, he adores and rejoices in us. So much so he gave up his life in order to bridge the canyon that separates us from God due to our disobedience and for us to realize our worth. But what seals and stamps our souls for eternity is that after he was placed in the grave, Jesus broke through the boundary separating life and death and conquered our sin. In the presence of his light, our shame and brokenness is completely wiped away and made whole again and this allows us to experience him in a mind blowing way. What is left is Eternal Life with Jesus in Heaven. So now to this day, my brothers and sisters and I are no longer waiting for fulfillment. Instead, what we wait for is the day either Jesus returns or calls us to his side in heaven. Jesus Christ is the ultimate gift that Christmas can offer. This Christmas, I hope you experience love in ways that will keep you strong even when your life becomes routine again. The meaning of Christmas is Love. And Love is God. And God is Jesus. And Jesus Loves You.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 08:46:47 +0000
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