It’s the beginning of November and it seems like everywhere I turn people are asking the question, “Are you ready for Christmas?” I don’t know about you, but the holiday season seems to start encroaching earlier and earlier every year. I have started to feel pressure to have my Christmas cards ready, have presents bought, have the house decorated, and November just began.
Just so you know, I am not a total Scrooge. I have enjoyed hearing my children play Christmas music on the piano to get ready for their recital. I just bought stockings to hang for decorations and we have talked through gifts we want to buy and we have even purchased some gifts. I don’t hate Christmas, but I do think Christmas has become a little too big for its britches.
Christmas is supposed to be a remembrance of Jesus’ first coming and a reminder to be ready for his second coming. The word Advent means coming and we celebrate the season of Advent to remind ourselves that Jesus came and is coming again. This celebratory season was never meant to be the end, but a means to an end. Eternity is what we are ultimately looking toward. Advent season is meant to point us toward eternity.
Instead of asking the question, “Are you ready for Christmas?” we should be asking, “Are you ready for eternity?” We should be approaching the holiday season with our eyes on the ultimate prize. We can use all the great things about the holidays to point us towards eternity, but they shouldn’t distract us from remembering that this world is not our home.
Jesus said:
Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Matthew 24:42-44
The author of Hebrews said:
We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. Hebrews 2:1
This Advent season, let’s not idolize the holiday but let the holiday point us to Jesus who is truly worthy of our worship.
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
Revelation 5:11-12
Let’s look at our holiday traditions with an eternal perspective:
- Christmas Carols One of my favorite holiday traditions are Christmas carols. The kids and I have been listening already and I find it is one of the best ways to be reminded that Jesus has come once and is coming again. These lines from O Little Town of Bethlehem have stuck out to me this year:
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray,
cast out our sin and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Immanuel!
- Christmas Tree: Our family has been cutting down a Christmas tree every year and we love the smell that fills our home. We have heard that the pine tree not changing colors in the winter reminds us that Jesus is always with us and goes on forever. The tree also points upward toward heaven reminding us that this world is not all that there is. As you decorate your tree or just sit and enjoy its lights, remember that Jesus is always with us.
- Christmas Cards and Family Parties: As you send out cards to loved ones remember that we are made to be in community with others. We are relational beings and God instructs us to encourage one another. As we send out cards, remember to pray for your loved ones and ask God to help you find ways to encourage your loved ones this holiday season.
- Exchanging Gifts: As we buy gifts for and receive gifts ourselves, let’s remember that Jesus is the ultimate gift. There is nothing else on this earth that can satisfy our hearts like Jesus. In Him, we are forgiven and able to be in relationship with Him for all of eternity.
- Christmas Programs and Services: Instead of thinking of church services as another item on the checklist, try to really soak in the messages this Christmas season. Remember that this is the reason we celebrate Christmas. These events should be attended with joy, knowing that we need to be reminded over and over again the good news of the season.
This Christmas season, let’s not get bogged down in trying to be ready for a perfect Christmas; let’s make sure that we are ready for eternity.