I can remember as a kid wishing that Christmas came more than once a year. Now that I have grown up a little and seeing what Christmas has come to mean to the world, I really don't want the birth of Jesus celebrated by more Black Fridays and people fighting over the latest toys. Every year we seem to get more evidence that people do not know what Christmas really means.
The past two weeks, I have been reminded of the true meaning of Christmas while at church. The minister has started his series of Christmas messages and preached on the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary and then to Joseph. As we read the passage in Matthew, all of this took place to fulfill what the prophet foretold. "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel"-- which means, "God with us." Christmas is the day we celebrate not just the birth of Jesus but the day that God came to be with us. We have made it easy to forget that after the presents have been opened, God is still with us.
As I think about the meaning of Immanuel, I realize that my childhood wish of more than one Christmas a year has now come true in my adult life. Over the past year, I have experienced Immanuel. Through everything that we have had to go through, God has been with us every day. To me, that makes every day Christmas day.
Merry Immanuel, everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment