Christmas is such an awesome holiday and all that it stands for. Yes, it can bring us closer to family and friends with the sharing of gifts and food, and spending time with loved ones. But the real meaning is in celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who came to earth to die for our sins. This event is worthy of our taking a quiet moment this day to sit in solitude and contemplation, and thank God for His deep love for us … a love so great that He gave His one and only Son to die for our sins so that we each may have eternal life.

I often contemplate the verse in Scripture (Luke 19:40) that says we cannot keep quiet the story of Jesus, and if we tried, the stones would cry out. It makes one stop to think, “Would stones really cry out?” Perhaps they would. However, what Scripture is really saying is that the story of salvation, beginning with Jesus’ birth, cannot be kept quiet and will be told. This story will be told no matter how hard we try to subdue it or keep it quiet. And it has been told over the last 2,000 years.

There’s a special beauty in Jesus coming to earth to live as we live, and experience joy and laughter, friendships and love for others, the fellowship of friends in the celebrations of life; but to also experience heartache and pain, the loss of loved ones thru death and betrayal, temptations, and the need to seek God our Father in our greatest hours of need. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit intimately understand the joys and heartaches we all experience in life.

May we shout out the “Good tidings of great joy” in knowing we have a loving God who sent His precious Son, Jesus, to save us from our sin this wonderful Christmas morning! May you and your family have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!