Are you ready for Christmas?

I often get asked at work as part of “small talk” (polite conversation about unimportant or uncontroversial matters, especially as engaged in on social occasions.) “Are you ready for Christmas?” The shock in their faces is priceless when I answer yes even as early as November. Then they bust out in laughter when they realize I haven’t bought a single gift. Their next question is always undoubtedly, how can you say you’re ready for Christmas but haven’t bought a single gift yet.
To which I say, “I am mentally and emotionally ready for Christmas, because I don’t make Christmas about the gifts. Total silence……. I can hear crickets after that answer, a might get a nervous laughter before they change the subject.
You see because Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior, it’s about acknowledging that one day, the maker of the heavens, stars, the universe the earth and everything we see and don’t see decided to redeem man. To do so, he had to become one. Wow, holiness had to take on humanity, perfection had to take on an imperfect body, and the powerful had to become a powerless baby, the rich one had to become poor, the sinless one had to take on sin like a cloak to be able to pay a price that belonged to us. He left heaven to come to earth to save

a world that was lost and in total darkness. In John 8:12 Jesus says “I am the light of the World, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.” The light of the world Jesus came to bring us light and life. His coming brought us salvation; His coming gave us eternal life, before Him we were destined to die without hope now we have Heaven. As pastor Jose challenged us in a recent sermon, when we see the Christmas decorations, all the beautiful lights that decorate our homes, it should remind us of the light of the world that radically changed our lives. We should be ready for Christmas as early as January, because Christmas is year round. We need to shine as stars in the universe and declare that the light of the World has changed us and can change you. This world wants to minimize God and totally do away with Him,

as if mere humans can contend before the ALL POWERFUL. But during this Christmas season don’t let people minimize Christ by saying “Happy Holidays” you respond to them, “MERRY CHRISTMAS” to you! You acknowledge HIM before man He will acknowledge you in heaven. I am ready for Christmas, are you?

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