I've heard many people say that they don't do the Christmas Tree thing because Christmas is about Jesus. With all the commercialization of Christmas, and gifts and sales Jesus doesn't seem to get any glory- with the exception of a Cantata here or a pageant there. So they would rather not get hyped up about a tree at all.
Even in the craziness in the season, I see God all around us. The legend of the candy cane says that candy canes are in the shape of a J for Jesus, they are white to represent His purity, and have red stripes to represent the blood he shed for our sins. That makes sense to me. When one of my kids asked why Santa wore Red and White, I told them the obvious, the red in the suit reminds Santa, and us, of Jesus' blood, and the white reminds us of his purity and righteousness. (Historically his suit has something to do with an ad campaign for a popular soda company and in my opinion its the best color combination that points to Jesus). Gift giving points to Jesus too . God gave us his greatest gift of all, His son, wise men gave gifts to Jesus and we give gifts to each other. We are more compassionate this time of year, that points to Jesus. The bright lights remind me of the star of Bethlehem.. that points to Jesus, right?
When I look at the sparkling lights on my tree, I think of how Jesus is the light. I think about how He died on a tree. I think about how he longs to give the gifts to His children. I think about how so many turn down his gift of salvation.
Each year we hang up a stocking for Jesus. This year Rocco asked, "why is it so small?" and agreed that we should get Him a bigger one. But what does one give Jesus as we celebrate his birth? The first year I hung Jesus' stocking, I put in prayer requests. Last year, I put in nothing, this year I put in nothing.
I realized over the last couple of years, the only thing Jesus wants is me. He not only wants me but, he wants me to trust Him with everything I hold dear, every thing that gives me joy, every thing that annoys me, everything that makes me crazy. His word says, in 1Peter 5:7, "cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you". All means all . All the good, all the bad, and all the ugly. All the big things and little things that concern us, he wants us to turn it over to Him and trust that he will work things out and give us the wisdom on what to do, what to say, and when to say it. You see, there is something about the sovereignty of God that allows Him to know exactly what to do with the "all" we give Him. But it is up to us to trust him. To trust him enough to ask him to live in our hearts and be our Savior. To ask him in our hearts and ask him to cover our sins with the blood that he shed on Calvary. Trust is not an easy thing especially if we have been hurt. But, Father God is not an earthly father, He is waiting for you with His arms wide open. Just waiting for you to say, "come into my heart" . He is the creator of the universe, He knows what He is doing. He cares so deeply for us we can't even comprehend it. He loves us so deeply, He sent His son to pay for our sins, so we wouldn't have to spend this life and eternity without Him. So as hard as it is to go out on a limb and trust some one who is bigger than life, and who most likely has been misrepresented to you by well meaning people, taking a leap of faith means believing that this God, knows what is best for you and only intends the best for you. We try so many things in life to fill the void that only God can fill. Since we've tried everything, why can't we try him? If you haven't done so today, why don't you let Him in?
