As Christmas approaches this year, I find myself getting more and more excited.  I know that money is tight and the economy is sluggish, but for some reason my heart is still beating faster and faster as the 25th of December gets closer. “Why is this,” I ask myself?  Why should I be excited when I can’t buy as much for my wife and my children as I would like to? The reason I am excited is the same reason I get excited when a family member or a friend is having a birthday.  That is the time of the year when people celebrate a birth and recognize how a person has truly changed the world forever.  No matter how commercialized Christmas becomes, millions of people, at some point during the Christmas season, will be exposed to the love that was born in a manger over 2000 years ago.

Please don’t get me wrong, I love giving and receiving gifts.  It is such a great feeling inside when I see the faces of my wife, my children, my friends and people I don’t even know light up so brightly when they receive a gift.  It makes me feel special when someone gives a gift to me that they put thought into and wait excitedly as I open up the surprise. Now, imagine the feeling that God has when we accept the most awesome gift in the universe, the gift of His son, Jesus Christ.  God told of the coming of Christ for thousands of years.  The story was already written before the original books of the Bible.  We cannot fathom the amount of thought that went in to the gift that God designed for us.

I hear many people say that they would love to celebrate Christmas all year long.  It seems to bring out the best in us. My wife, my children and I do our best to live Christmas throughout the year.  We do this not by spending money and giving physical gifts, but by our love. This is not the easiest way to live nor are we perfect at living in this manner.  That is one of the greatest aspects of being a Christian; we don’t have to be perfect to be loved by God.

So to close, please do something for yourselves this Christmas.  Give the most awesome gift to as many people as you can.  That gift is Love.  It last much longer than any physical gift you could ever give and it can multiply exponentially.  It may not come cheap, but it is most certainly worth it.  Remember the true meaning of Christmas and do not put physical gifts in the center, but be a humble servant of the One that is, and bow down to worship him, our LORD, our GOD.

And may God Bless us, everyone!  Have a blessed and joyous season.