A Christmas Promise

I absolutely love Christmas! I'm not really big on the whole Santa thing. And I actually hate answering the question about what I want for Christmas. I think it kinda cheapens the whole giving something to someone to let them know they are loved thing. But I love gifts and trees and snow, if I'm not out in it. I love the carols, and the smell of the fire burning. I love that the whole family gets together and plays games and eats lots of goodies. It's just such a fun, familiar time of year.

When I was a kid, my favorite part of Christmas was the Christmas Eve service that always ended at midnight with the candles and everybody walking out of the church so quietly. It was just so peaceful. And the best Christmases were the ones when it was snowing as we walked home. We almost always lived next door to the church so we'd walk out in the snow and watch the sky for a few minutes. It's so neat to see the snowflakes falling from a starry sky. Then we'd walk in the house and crawl into bed. In the morning my Mom would have Grandma's coffee cake ready for breakfast. And my brother and I would race down the stairs to see the gifts under the tree. That was always a great part. I'm sure at the time the presents were what I looked forward to, but the Christmas Eve service is the part that I remember the most.

But Christmas is not just about presents and snow and trees and Santa. Those things are all fun and they all have their place. It's not even just about a baby born a long time ago. It's about a promise. The promise that God made to his people many years before Jesus and Joseph and Mary and the stable. A promise of a Savior. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise, the gift He gave all of us that first Christmas. He started His journey to the Cross that day in the stable.I think that's why I loved the Christmas Eve service so much. It was such a quiet reflective time, but it made everything feel like something BIG was about to happen. What could be bigger that the birth of the Savior? So let's remember that promise this Christmas. Remember that something big is about to happen. When we're shopping for that last great deal or getting all those goodies finished in the kitchen, let's remember that our God is in the business of keeping promises. He promised a Savior and He came. He promised He'll come back again. Don't forget, He keeps His promises. Merry Christmas everybody!