Christmas truly is a wonderful time of the year. I don’t know what it has been this year, but something has been different – in a good way.

As I think about Christmas and all that it is supposed to be, I remember two things in particular.

Christmas is a reminder that God keeps His word.

Way back in the Garden of Eden, we see that mankind fell into sin. It has plagued the human race ever since. In Genesis 3 though, God promised that One would come and bring a solution to the problem of sin (see Genesis 3:15).

Through the ages, God continuously reminded His people that He had not forgotten that promise. We see the prophets talking about the promise for hundreds of years. And then when the time was just right, Jesus came. God came in flesh.

We may have some that go back on their word, and we are right to be upset with them. One thing we can count on though is that God has never (and will never) break His promise.

Christmas reminds us there is a gift to be received.

One of the traditions that I love at Christmas is the exchanging of gifts. I have been told that “gifts” is my love language.

When I think about Christmas, I think about the greatest gift ever given – Jesus. How a holy God would come to a sinful earth to pay the penalty for sinful people is beyond me… but I’m so glad that He did it.

The interesting thing about gifts is that they do not truly become yours until you receive them. They can be bought and wrapped nicely with your name on it, but until you take possession of it, you can never really experience all that the gift is.

In the Gospel of John we see that “all who received [Jesus], he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12 CSB). Anyone who would trust and follow Jesus was welcomed into the family of God. It didn’t matter their past, gender, race, socio-economic status, or anything else.

The key word there though is “received.” We may know a lot about Jesus, but I til we come and put ALL of our faith into Him, we do not experience Him nor the gift He came to bring.

I pray that this Christmas you would be blessed and truly know the wonder that is Christmas.

From our family to yours, we wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year!