Rediscovering the True Meaning of ChristmasSample

GO DEEPER

Do you ever feel like all our Christmas trappings and activities are only loosely related to Jesus? While He’s often mentioned in the songs and readings and sometimes even the decorations, too often He’s not the main emphasis of our celebration – He’s not our true “reason for the season.”

We love Christmas and we truly do love Jesus. But are we sometimes overwhelmed, apathetic, or distracted from intimate fellowship with Him during the holiday season? Are we missing the true meaning of Christmas?

I think we’ve all been there. How does that happen? One reason is that familiarity breeds contempt. We’ve heard the story of the baby born in a manger so many times that we’ve almost become numb to it. It starts to sound more like a Christmas slogan instead of a celebration of the single greatest event in human history.

Another reason could be our relentless exposure to all the secular aspects of Christmas. We're inundated by commercials, insignificant pop songs, parties, gift-giving, and holiday movies – plus the pressure to establish traditions, buy presents, and make everything memorable. Pretty soon both the important and the unimportant get equal attention, and we can lose sight of what truly matters.

Finally, we have to acknowledge that there is a spiritual battle going on for our hearts and our attention. The Enemy of our souls is always looking for ways to distract us and diminish our relationship with God. He would love nothing more than to get us yawning at the most important event in the history of the world – the incarnation of Almighty God.

Let’s not be ignorant of this trick (2 Corinthians 2:11), but rather keep our attention focused on Christ. Hebrews 12:2 GNT says, Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end…

Yes, Christmas is a crazy busy time of year, with decorating, gift buying, party giving, year-end business tasks, family demands, baking, and more. I’m not writing this to make us feel guilty but rather to give us some encouragement to go deeper this Christmas. It’s absolutely possible to take steps to remember the true meaning of Christmas — the birth of Jesus and the amazing events that forever changed human history.