… fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith … Hebrews 12:2 (NASB)
“You cannot extract the principles of Christmas from the Person of Christmas.”
My pastor friend reminded me of this quote, whose source I do not know, one Sunday morning during the Christmas season. While this quote is true, we still see all around us the world’s feeble attempts to extract the principles of Christmas from the Person of Christmas. We see it in movies, television shows, advertisements, songs, and greeting cards, don’t we? We pull out the principles of peace on earth, love, joy, unity, and mercy and focus on them as if they all stand in a vast vacuum totally unrelated to Jesus Christ, the Person of Christmas.
The Santa Claus character that is now so symbolic of Christmas has morphed into a person who possesses the characteristics and power that, in fact, belong to Jesus Christ alone. Spend a little time watching some of the many Christmas movies on television, and you will see that the primary focus is on love for and peace with each other. We are also led to believe that all of this love and peace is the result of the goodness of a person’s heart. Sometimes the main character’s good heart has been buried deep by the pain, anger, and bitterness of a past event or a series of events. And, through another series of gut-wrenching circumstances, by the end of the story the goodness in the character’s heart resurfaces as he or she unites or reunites in love and peace with everyone. The bottom-line message is to follow your heart and good things will happen to you and those you love.
What is wrong with that?
There is one gigantic oversight: the story is devoid of Jesus Christ! While these traits are certainly manifestations of some of the principles of Christmas, the love and peace of Christmas are primarily about the Person of Christmas, Jesus Christ. Christmas is about the love of God for us, and the focus of the peace is our peace with God. That is why God sent Jesus—because God loves us and wants us to have peace with Him, a peace which is only possible through Jesus, the Person of Christmas.
We are not to follow our hearts, we are to follow Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit-inspired Word to guide us as we love and live in peace with each other.
As you think of all the many joys the Christmas season brings, do not forget to celebrate the Person of Christmas, Jesus Christ, as you celebrate the principles of Christmas. Today’s key verse reminds us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith—the real reason for the Christmas season. He is also the author and perfecter of the peace and love of which this season is so full. As the words of the well-known Christmas carol say, “O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!” He is the Person of Christmas in whom the principles of Christmas originate and live!
*Taken from Glimpses of God: Finding Jesus Among the Celebrations and Decorations by Shirley Crowder and Harriet E. Michael.
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