A Little Bit of Faith: Remembering the Christ-Child this Christmas

You may have wrapped-up your Thanksgiving weekend with a little bit of power shopping and spending time with family and friends.  With the glow of having time-off and being able to shop until you drop on Black Friday, you now have to think about going back to work and begin preparing for Christmas. Has your smile faded from your face? Or are you looking forward to what the Christmas season really means? Ready or not, Christmas is less than a few weeks away.

For me, I look forward to watching some of my Christmas favorites such as A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But nothing really says Christmas to me until I see homes decorated for the holiday and I hear Christmas music playing tenderly on the radio, in churches, and blasting in my car. Yes, now I’m ready for Christmas!

But if I let the truth be known, I play Christmas music starting in October. The anticipation of Christmas and the warmth that it brings, helps me to begin to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. Yes, I love looking at the Christmas lights on houses and feeling the hustle and bustle that the holiday season brings, but I try to keep Christ in Christmas.

I find it difficult to simply say, “Happy Holidays.” I know it may offend some people when I say, “Merry Christmas,” but that is what this season is all about. It’s about remembering the birth of the Christ-child, Jesus. Like I said, I know it is not politically correct, but I must do what’s right for me. I do not care if the cashier, or the person walking down the street responds to my words when I say it to them. I say, “Merry Christmas” because the joy of remembering the birth of the Christ-child fills my heart. This is truly what the season is about.

Let us begin to prepare our hearts, minds, and souls for the joyous season of Christmas. It’s all about Jesus.

“And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).