Well, tomorrow is the day! Little children will be unwrapping gifts and parents will be preparing extravagant meals. It is so hard to imagine how many things have been purchased that people can’t afford. Things have been bought with money they don’t have to give as gifts to people we’re not even sure we like. The commercial side of Christmas has probably become devastating to many.

 

By the way, did you hear about the man in Salt Lake City who decided to send out 600 Christmas cards to total strangers? Amazingly, he received 117 responses from total strangers!

 

Will you take a moment and read Galatians 4:19?   Now I realize this verse is not usually considered a Christmas text, but listen to what Paul says, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…”

 

As the world is so focused on the birth of Christ, this is an excellent time for us to be reminded of the need for Jesus to be born again in our lives, our families, and our relationships. That is exactly what Paul is praying for, that somehow in a wonderful way, that Christ will be formed inside the hearts and lives of each of us.

 

It is also amazing how we just have not learned how to get along with each other. Remember the angel’s message “Peace on earth, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). I suggest to you that our greatest need is to have Jesus formed in us, to live with us, to show us how to accept and forgive each other, how to get rid of the tensions that divide us, and how to overcome our fears and prejudice.

 

To all of you, my family and I wish each of you a Merry Christmas. In the midst of all the frivolity, don’t forget that Jesus Christ is the reason for every season.