What is Christmas to You?
One of my most fondest memories as a child was when I was twelve years old at Christmas. I had so much wanted a motorcycle for Christmas and I just knew this was the year that I was going to get one. I remember going to bed that night and hardly being able to sleep. The next morning I woke up early but at our house we couldn’t get up until our parents had woke up (they wanted to see our reaction). I laid there in the bed for what seemed like a year or two. Finally when my mom said come and see I ran into the living room only to find a few gifts wrapped up, none of them being big enough to be a motorcycle. I remember trying hard not to show the disappointment as I opened shirts and pants. Finally around the corner my father pushed out a brand new Suzuki 80 dirt bike. I can still remember the joy of that Christmas, my excitement, my gratitude, and pure joy of having this great gift.
Now as I am older and can truly understand the meaning of Christmas, I realize that there was a great gift that was given to me. A gift that will take me farther than that motorcycle ever did. Every Christmas Eve my father takes down the Bible and reads to us the story of Jesus found in Luke 2. Now to be honest as a child this was brutal because it meant that I had to wait to see what I was getting, but as I got older I come to understand that the reason we exchange gifts is not to get things. The reason we exchange gifts is to demonstrate the greatest gift that was ever given. The gift of Christ. As we exchange gifts we love to see the reaction of the person receiving the gift, we want their eyes to light up. As a father I come to think that my father must have been happy that Christmas morning as my face lite up as he come around the corner with that orange motorcycle. Yet when God gave us His most precious gift, His son, very few people lite up at His coming. There were very few that throw a celebration, and yet God loved us anyway. What an awesome God that keeps giving even when we don’t appreciate the gift.
This Christmas remember when you celebrate, it is in remembrance of the birth of a Savior.
