Xmas or CHRISTmas!

Bob Evans was blind. For the first 51 years of his life he lived in a dark world filled with sounds, but not sight. Then delicate surgery was performed, & for the first time in his life, he could see. He has written of his experience in seeing things for the very first time, He wrote, "I couldn?t believe yellow. I never dreamed that yellow was so, well, yellow. And red. Red is my favorite color. It?s so brilliant and warm and penetrating. Then there are the airplanes flying high in the sky, stretching their vapor trails behind them. I love watching the airplanes. And the sunsets. There are times when I just sit outside to drink in the beauty of a sunset, followed by a night filled with the brilliant light of the stars, blinking in the heavens." He went on, "I wonder if you realize just how wonderful the gift of sight really is?"

We have always seen, haven?t we? We just open our eyes. Sometimes we need a little help from glasses that correct our vision & bring things into focus. But most of us have always had this wonderful gift of sight. Bob Evans also wrote, "All my life I was surrounded by beauty & I never realized it until now. I didn?t even know what I was missing."

It is possible for us to be that way with God, too. To come to church and sing songs of praise, even to pray and read His Word, yet never know Him. To know only what others have learned of Him & have taught us, but never really to know Him for ourselves.

Maybe our goal for Christmas ought to be to know Jesus for ourselves. Because the message of Christmas is this, "Heaven visited earth and made it possible for earth to get right with God. God became flesh and lived with us for a brief period of time, so that the eyes of man could behold Him, and ears could listen to what He had to say."

Will it be Christmas or x-mas? Christmas reminds us that God is near and that He is available to all who will open their eyes to see, their ears to hear, and their hearts to follow Him. Our problem at Christmas time is that when we do open our eyes we see so many different things. On one hand we see crowded shopping malls, and presents that need to be bought, traffic jams, and a pile of cards to be sent out. We see all the commercialization of Christmas. But on the other hand we see a manger and a young mother holding a baby in her arms. We see a tired carpenter who has led them across a desert area to a place of warmth and safety. We hear angels singing, we see shepherds coming in adoration, and wise men bringing their gifts.

The two pictures simply do not go together, they conflict with one another. So we come away confused, wondering what we are really supposed to see at Christmas time. I think C. S. Lewis hit the nail on the head when he said, "We really celebrate two holidays on December 25th. One we call ?Xmas? and the other we call ?Christmas.?"

So this Christmas, make sure that we are quiet enough to hear and see Jesus. If there is too much noise, confusion, and conflict we simply cannot hear what God is saying to us. The Bible says, "Be still and know that I am God."

There is a strong temptation to pat each other on the back and wish each other a merry Christmas, but to be immune to the hurt and the heartache and the cries for help coming from the busy streets of the world. If Jesus communicated anything to us, it was that as Christians we must be concerned about the masses of people who do not know Him and who are in need. As His ambassadors we have a responsibility to reach out in a very special loving and unselfish way, and communicate the meaning and purpose of Christmas.

This is my prayer for you and for me this Christmas season, that we will not just celebrate Xmas but that we will really celebrate Christmas. That we will be able to see Him, Jesus, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and as our Savior.

Serving His Kingdom Together,

Travis Mowell