And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto 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 Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:8-14 (KJV)
These words probably sound familiar. You will most likely gather around the T.V. with your family sometime during this Christmas season and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. Charlie Brown will get mad and yell out, “What is the meaning of Christmas?” Linus will walk out to middle of the stage, say, “Lights, please,” and a spotlight will appear on him and he will say the lines from above. When he finishes he will say, “That Charlie Brown is the meaning of Christmas.” Many of you will forget the meaning of Christmas. Many of you will grow so busy with church, work and school events that the meaning of Christmas will slowly slip by you and you’ll wonder why you are so worn out. It’s hard I know. I don’t really have any wise, sage advice on how not to get wrapped up in the comings and goings. I’m not going to tell you to “make appointments” with God and try to stop in your busy day and think of the baby that the Angel told the shepherds about. That’s not what God wants. God wants more than that. You need to shift your way of thinking. This shift won’t come overnight; you’ll have to work on it. Start by doing something simple. When you are standing in the line that is miles long don’t stand there and think about how long the line is and how horrible it is to be standing in it and how unbelievably slow the cashier is, instead give glory to God in the highest. When that red light happens, you know that one that often feels like a punishment, don’t sit there and curse the light, turn your radio onto KLove or some other Christian radio station and praise God.
After watching A Charlie Brown Christmas one year, my father said that we should be doing our best to do the end of that verse now. We need to be working on peace on earth and good will toward men. Are you working on living at peace with those around? Are you showing good will toward men? Smile at coworkers. Spend time with those you love. When you see someone struggling help them. The world would be so much better if we all worked on our own little corner and make it better. If you started working on these things it might be easier to not forget the meaning of Christmas.
The meaning of Christmas comes down to this; God loves you so much that He gave up His place in heaven so that you could have one. God thinks you are so important that He gave his child up so you could be with Him. Love like that deserves more than just a pause; it deserves you giving your life back to Him.
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