Christmas Cheer

Christmas cheer. What causes the giddy abnormality that makes people smile, lightens steps, softens hearts, and for the month of December sets the world aglow?

A large Christmas store down the street from us burned down the other night. Investigators blame faulty lights for starting the blaze. That incident coupled with my foray into the shopping crowd, yesterday, got me pondering the question. What underlies this Christmas cheer? What would happen if all the holiday trimmings were to disappear? Would people still be as enthusiastic about celebrating Christmas?

I pictured Christmas stripped of its sparkly lights, and I found the cheer still there. Next went the ornamented trees, the gifts, and the holiday food. People who've endured spare Christmases speak of the those times as being the most meaningful. The cheer remained intact. Gathering with family and friends? People get together other times of the year, so this couldn't be it, either.

Only when I meditated on the first Christmas, did I realize our Christmas cheer originated over two thousand years ago with the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ to this earth.

A group of humble shepherds were the first people to exhibit Christmas cheer, after the angel told them:

". . . Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."-Luke 2:10,11

The Bible says the shepherds "made haste" to go and see the Christ child. And when they had seen Him, "they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child".

The promise of unparalleled hope and joy in Jesus Christ reaches over thousands of years to affect us today. As evidenced by our wicked, fallen world, we still need a Divine Saviour. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. As both man and God, He is the only Person who can save us from our sin nature and reconcile us to God. Do you know Him?

To learn more about Jesus Christ and what He did for you personally, click here: God's Gift for Me

News photo from Kathimerini. Christmas in Athens (Syntagma Square)