The Birthday of Christ
I enjoy this season of the year as much as many of you.
This weekend we went and purchased our Christmas tree, brought it home and decorated it.
Just like every one of us, each tree is different in each home. How we choose to decorate depends upon our likes and dislikes. For those who have children and/or animals in the home, they, the children and animals, determine what we will or will not place on a tree for safety reasons.
As for us, we choose to put colored lights on our tree. While the large bulbs remind us of growing up, they are now LED lights, not C7, and much cooler to the touch.
We also trim our tree with decorations we’ve purchased over the years from the places we have vacationed. This in itself reminds us of God’s many safe journeys for us over the years and the wonderful times we’ve had together as a couple on our vacations.
One set of ornaments we place on our tree reminds us of our Christmas-time wedding. Our pastor and his family gave the set to us. The decorations remind us of God blessing us as a couple many years ago, but it also reminds us of the pastor who was a blessing to us when he served our local congregation.
I should not have envied him, but I did. He was and is so smart when it comes to the Scriptures. I’ve often thought it would be nice to serve a congregation with him. It would be like serving with an encyclopedia.
As far as tree-toppers, we either top the tree with a star or an angel. As I sit and write this article, I cannot imagine anything else better than one of these two for topping a tree. I guess some might consider placing a crown on the tree-top or even a Bible, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen this in my life-time. Anything we place atop a tree that reminds me of Christ works for me. Now, this is a great segue into my final thought.
Christmas is not about us. It is not about our birthday. It’s about the birthday of Christ. What we do as Christians during this holiday season should point us toward our Creator, Forgiver and Sustainer. In fact, this is a time of the year when we should ask ourselves what we could do for someone else, instead of ourselves.
Today, when we went grocery shopping, I took a list that our pastor gave us so that we could buy food for a family this Christmas. I did not get everything on the list because I cannot imagine anyone eating some of the things on the list. I also did not clean out our pantry in order to fill the box. We bought things that normal families could easily prepare and enjoy this season.
Enjoy this season. Be whimsical and decorate your tree any way you please. Make wonderful memories. Whatever you do, remember we are celebrating someone else, not ourselves, and remember it is a time for giving more than receiving.