Joy to the World

Happy and sincerely Merry Christmas to all across the globe. I am looking forward to spending time with my family and watching people open the gifts I got for them. Though I know that while those things are wonderful miracles in and of themselves, there is abundantly more to this season. I’m guilty of mismanaging my time and gratitude in years past. That being said, now that the gifts are purchased and the craziness is mostly behind me, my goal is to be intentional about staying deep in prayer and meditating on the true reason for this holiday. How lucky are we to live at a time when, because of a baby in a manger, we have a best friend who is all-powerful and all-knowing. I know this time of year is tough for many people. Whether it be unmet expectations, grieving loved ones, or just feeling alone, I pray and hope that we can all find the peace and joy that the Lord brought to us two thousand years ago.

Let’s talk about that night in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph had to travel there for the Census ordered by Caesar Augustus. We can probably think of it as a holiday like modern Christmas, in the sense that everybody was back in their hometowns and seeing people they may not have seen in a while. So it is logical that there wasn’t room for them to stay; the town was probably busy. They found a barn and Mary gave birth in it, praise God. We probably all know at least the main takeaways of how Mary found out she was going to become pregnant. In Luke 1:26-38, the story goes that Mary and Joseph were about to be married when the Angel Gabriel was sent to inform her that she had found favor with God and that the Savior of the world would come to us through her. She obviously was confused; she didn’t understand how she could be pregnant because she was a virgin. Clearly, with God, anything is possible, and she trusted in the Lord and surrendered herself to His will.

I truly can’t imagine what that birth was like. Or what being the mother of Jesus was like. I’m sure she had the motherly instinct to protect her children from all the evil in the world. But her child was meant to bear all the evil of the world and wear it on the cross for all of us, including her. I feel so much shame for how many of my sins are the reason Jesus was crucified. I can only bet that Mary felt that way, too. But Jesus is so good, and He loves us so much more than we can ever even grasp. Jesus existed before He was put in Mary’s womb. In the beginning of everything, He was there, and He became flesh for the purpose of sacrificing Himself for us. He was, is, and is to come. Death could not defeat Him, and through His sacrifice, we are saved. I always see the anti-Christians proposing that we are all in a cult. My question is, what cult has a leader who would willingly die because of the love he has for the people who follow him?

Because Jesus was born, He could die with our sins, to then be brought back to life and reign over us. This year, let’s focus on the gift from our Savior, which is His existence. He is God with us, His name is the name above all names, and He is the Prince of peace. This should be a joyful time, and we complicate it year after year. Together, let’s focus on Jesus: what He did for us, and how we can be more like Him. Can we sacrifice more money to buy gifts for others in His name? Can we sacrifice more time to reach out to relatives who are hard to talk to? Can we sacrifice comfort to make someone else happy? If we focused on His sacrifice and mimicked Him every day of our lives, I bet we’d be all the better for it. We’d have more fulfillment, peace, and joy. I pray that everyone who reads this will have a Christmas of peace, sacrifice, and joy.