Merry Christmas! - December 2009

Merry Christmas! I love the sights and sounds of this season. Familiar Christmas music is heard everywhere you go. Christmas is a festive time, when you are likely to wish a “Merry Christmas” even to complete strangers. Christmas is often proclaimed as a joyous season; a time for parties and good food, visits to family and visits from friends.
When we think of joy, we often think of happiness or having fun. But joy is so much more than just happiness! Happiness comes and goes; it comes when we are satisfied or enjoying ourselves, but it leaves when we have chores to do or things don’t go our way. Joy, on the other hand, doesn’t depend on how we feel but on our relationship with God. If we have accepted Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, God has given us a relationship with Him, the free gift of salvation, the promise of His power in our lives here on earth, and a reward in Heaven. Those things never change; so our joy doesn’t change either!
When we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate Jesus’ birth here on earth. This was when God came to give all of mankind an opportunity to enter into a right relationship with Him. Without that relationship with God, we have no reason to be joyful. Christmas is when we celebrate the reason we have joy: God inviting man into a relationship with Him.
Because nothing can ever take away God and His Word away from us, we still have joy no matter what else is going on in our lives. Like Leah and Eli learned, it doesn’t matter if we’re having the worst day ever, or if our future here on earth looks dreary, because no matter what, God’s love for us remains and His promises are sure. When little things bother us or cause us to be “unhappy”, we can remember the bigger picture and still have the joy of the Lord. Nothing will ever change God’s love for us.
What a wonderful promise we can now have - no matter what we have or don’t have here on earth, our loving Savior will always have a home for us in Heaven. Our hope is sure, which gives room for joy. Our sins are gone - what a reason to rejoice! The Almighty God in heaven saw fit to enter into a relationship with those He created. For a Christian, joy doesn’t rest in our circumstances, because those change. Our joy rests on our right relationship with God, which never changes. Next time someone wishes you a Merry Christmas, remember why this is a season of joy: “Jesus Christ was born today” and He has washed our sins away. Our joy rests on the sure foundation of Christ’s sacrifice for us, and the freedom to love God and serve Him.