Christ is in Christmas

Yes He is. Christmas. Though nowadays you wouldn't think so,

because Christmas is abbreviated (or is it desecrated?) to Xmas.

Yes we realize it's very likely Jesus was not born on December 25th,

or anywhere near that date.

Nevertheless, Christmas is a time when we hear carols about the birth

of Christ. One of the most famous is Harry Belafonte's

version of Mary's Boy Child.

It was a tradition in England (hopefully it still is) that boys and

girls knocked on doors and sang carols to whoever would listen, and

whoopee if they got some money in the offered box.

Department stores used to display a nativity scene in their windows.

Do they still? The overall picture is that Jesus has been squeezed

out of our thinking amid the furore of frantic last-minute shopping,

office parties, a couple of days off work, Santa Claus, giving and

receiving gifts, getting tipsy, even drunk.

Goodwill on Earth and peace toward all men there may be at Christmas

but it's only temporary for those who don't know Jesus.

In World War One the German and British soldiers (plus Allies) briefly

stopped fighting at Christmas. Some say it was prompted by a German

in the trenches singing Silent Night, the refrain then taken up by

the British in their lines. All firing stopped. The foes then slowly

and cautiously walked across to greet each other, exchanged cigarettes

and conversation. Could it be they all realized the futility of killing

each other? Then after a while it was back to "normal" and the firing

began again.

Yet Jesus wants peace to be permanent, daily, ongoing. He wants and

offers a change of heart in every human being - not just a yearly

doffing of the hat to the Saviour. The Bible says if any man be in

Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all

things are become new. Many will testify that trust in Jesus has turned

their lives around.

That's better than a new year resolution that melts away like ice,

is it not?

Getting back to Christmas, what better time to commit to Christ, with

the promise that one's sins are in a deep sea called Forget, as far

as God is concerned.

Furthermore, there is the promise of a daily - not yearly - helper

in the form of the Holy Spirit who is available to those who will

trust and believe. Yes, daily help from God! Christianity is not (as

many seem to think) mere churchgoing. Jesus says for believers there

is a mansion waiting in heaven: life eternal in a place where there

is no pain, no night, no tears, no mourning, no more death.

The Bible makes it clear the alternative is a second death in a lake

of fire - and who would want that?