How Christmas Came

The annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree took place on December 3^rd at 8:00 PM. I watched the replay this morning on the news, and the sight was glorious. Even as I gazed on all the beautiful lights that emanated from that majestic tree, though, I thought, “It doesn’t begin to compare with the Light that dawned when Christ entered our world. It can’t compete with the Light He has brought into my life.”

I love the lights and sounds of Christmas, but I love them because they remind me of Him. My spiritual birthday is December 20^th, so I feel like I am a Christmas baby, born right in the middle of the Christmas season. I joyously relive that every day of the year.

And here is what I read in the fourth chapter of Matthew this morning.

“The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matthew 4:16, KJV).

How Christmas Came

It wasn’t the gifts,It wasn’t the tree.It wasn’t the shopping or singing or glee.It wasn’t the parties or time off from work.It wasn’t the light shows that lit up the Earth.Christmas did not come in a boxNor with a cute hat or lighted up socks.No reindeer with sleigh that flew through the skyBrought Christmas to me as it flew quickly by.Christmas came quietly, almost unseen,In a crude tiny village, imagine the scene.No lights, except campfires, no big Christmas treeJust hard-working people with taxes, you see.A young couple who travelled far from their homeTo reach a small city and pay tribute to Rome.They looked for a place to stay for the night,Weary and wanting a warm place to light.A busy innkeeper offered a stallJust some hay and a manger, not much at all.But there in that stable a baby was bornthat changed the whole world on that Christmas morn.He was God’s only Son come from Heaven to payfor the sins so many – a whole world gone astray.He came bringing love from the Father on high.He came with forgiveness for which He would die.This one tiny child, who would think it could be,That One so beloved would come to save me?He came and He grew, and He lived and He loved.He taught of His Father in Heaven above.The world turned away, but He still paid the pricefor He came to be the supreme sacrifice.Today, as I look at the gifts and the lightsand I celebrate joyfully all of the sights.I remember this One who brought Christmas to me,for He bore my sin so that I could be free.

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24, KJV).

May God’s great Light in Christ shine on you this Christmas season. May you know the gift of His love demonstrated in His sacrifice on the cross. Such grace! What wondrous Grace!