Enjoying Christmas

Every year during the busy holidays, Christians remind themselves of the real significance of Christmas: the coming of Jesus! Our hearts are filled with gratitude that God the Father sent a Savior to redeem us. We enjoy many blessings: seeing colorful presents around the tree in the living room; singing carols and hymns; thanking God for his goodness. Some of us even enjoy watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” with Linus quoting from Luke 2 at the end.

We are to be grateful with all our hearts for the blessings we enjoy at Christmas. We know that all good things come from the Father. Yet it is good if we remind ourselves why Jesus came: because we are at war — at war with the powers of darkness, with demonic spirits, with the devil himself. The devil comes into our lives to try to steal, to kill, and to destroy — all in an attempt to derail us from God’s good purposes. With Christ’s birth, God established a beachhead in order to fight the enemy in a new way — in effect, a D-Day landing against the entrenched forces of hell.

Many believers do not want to acknowledge this war in their lives but it is a biblical fact that the enemy of our souls is always on the move against God’s people. Therefore, if our focus during the holidays in only on blessings — even good things like giving and receiving — we miss the fuller impact of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. And we miss out on the deeper, ultimate blessing that Christmas reveals is ours.

God the Father made sure his beloved Son was delivered. All the miraculous victories enjoyed in the name of Jesus for centuries lay there in the humble manger, in the tiny form of a babe.

As we celebrate Christmas, may we be thankful for all of God’s blessings, especially the victory we have because of the birth of the Christ-child.