As I write this it is hard to believe that Christmas is only two days away. Of course, if you go according to the retailers Christmas has been happening for a couple of months. I heard yesterday that WalMart already has Valentine’s Day stuff out. Well…so much for Christmas.  Let me rephrase that: so much for the commercial side of Christmas. I’m biased enough as a Christ-follower to realize that the season holds a much deeper meaning than presents, trees, endless “elevator Christmas” music, and debt.

Christmas often has hackneyed words or phrases which are used that diminish or even misrepresent the season. We often hear “Joy to the World” and yet it is during this time that more suicides happen, more sadness is prevalent, and endless violence (can anyone say a car careening through a marketplace in Germany for no real good reason at all) seems the norm. Our culture is in the throes of an antisemitic mindset that makes us forget that the very Savior whose birth we celebrate is both Jewish and middle eastern.

But I’m off on a rabbit trail with that. My whole purpose for writing about hackneyed phrases is one we hear often. Each time I hear it I cringe. I give grace because so many mean well, but the truth is that the phrase is not true.  I know what the saying is trying to say and I know that those who say it are truly trying to keep the focus where it belongs, but I believe it gets it wrong. That saying?

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

I can hear the gasps now. “How could you Bill? How can you possibly say that is wrong?” Easy. Because it is.  I’ll say this as simply as I can:

JESUS IS THE MEANING OF THE SEASON. WE ARE THE REASON.

The whole reason Jesus came to earth as God in the flesh, was to purchase our salvation by dying on a cross for our sin. We were lost and desolate and had no hope of a future because of sin. Sin had separated us from God. Not from God’s love (hence the reason why Jesus came), but from a relationship with Him. John 3:16 is clear on that. Sin brought separation; Jesus’ death brought salvation. But all that was not possible on our own. It was only possible by the humble act of God becoming flesh in the form of a baby. Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

So you see…we are the reason.

And I hope you now see that Jesus is the One who gives this whole season any meaning.

I’ll get off my hobby horse now. 🙂  I’ll simply wish you a joy-filled Christmas as you remember the real meaning of the season.  This will be my last post this week. We leave early tomorrow morning for Ohio to spend some precious time with Janna, Mike, Braden (our grandson), Cameron (his girlfriend…although to call her that is so 90s), and Andrew (Mike’s son). We will plan to be back home on Thursday. I know I will run into a ton of traffic tomorrow and hopefully not as much on Thursday. I’m just hoping that all travel is safe for all.  I will be back here, Lord willing, on Monday, the 30th.