For most of the year, asking someone “How’s it going?” will be met with one of two answers, either “Good” or “Busy.” During the Christmas season, you’ll most often hear “Busy.” Your follow-up questions are, typically, “Did you get all your shopping done?” or “Do you have any gatherings?” This can then lead into conversations about the myriad of gatherings left to attend or the one or two gifts yet to be bought. People are busy throughout the year, and the holiday time only adds to an already busy schedule.
Yet I love this time of year. I enjoy waiting in line, with or without my children, watching the hustle and bustle. I enjoy the opportunities to meet store employees with a smile and a cheerful conversation. I enjoy being able to lift their spirits when they’ve likely endured some hostile interactions throughout the day. I enjoy meeting other shoppers while waiting in those various lines. While others might be frantically running from store to store, I find myself most at ease waiting in line.
For all the business and the frantic shopping and the high stress levels, those of us who are Christian recognize that none of this would take place if it weren’t for a small baby. Much of our culture today doesn’t recognize this, but we celebrate Christmas because Jesus, God’s Son, was born as a baby all those many years ago.
We believe that God’s redemptive plan for people begins and ends with Jesus. For Christians, that celebration begins at Christmas, with Jesus’s birth, and ends at Easter, when we celebrate his death, burial, and (most importantly) resurrection. These two holidays are the centrepiece of the Christian faith.
Jesus came to show us the way to a renewed relationship with God, saying, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, NKJV). He came to show us the meaning of love.
I recently came across a writing from author Sharon Jaynes that is fitting for this holiday season: “Love stops the cooking to hug a child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss a spouse. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.”1
My prayer is that you would encounter love this Christmas season—the love of family and friends, the love of a stranger as you wait in line. But most importantly, my prayer is that you would meet the love of Jesus. He wants to meet you. He wants to get to know you. Jesus wants to pour out His love to you and show you what a relationship with God can be like.
