I am sure you’ve heard the adage, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Christmas is without a doubt my favorite time of the year. It is a perfect reminder of how blessed we are to have the freedom to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th.
When I was a kid, Christmas was all about decorations and
receiving gifts, oh yes, and getting time off from school. They are great memories for sure.
As a married man having three children and a house full of
grandkids when everyone gathers at Nana and Papa’s house, Christmas has taken
on a different feeling and meaning in my senior years.
Family gatherings at our home are very important to my wife
and me, especially at Christmas. We look
forward to sharing a meal with our kids and their families and carrying on a
wonderful tradition that my Father-in-Law started of reading the nativity story
of the birth of Jesus, which is the true Christmas story… (Luke 2:1-14).
I have concluded that giving gifts is more fulfilling than
receiving them. The grandkids and no
doubt our three children can hardly wait for dinner to be over, and dishes
washed and put away, to begin the fun time of opening gifts.
I love passing the brightly wrapped packages out to everyone
and watching the expressions of excitement and gratitude on each face as the
gifts are opened.
My mind is reminded of the wonderful gift that God gave to
mankind, Jesus, who was born in a manger, because there was no room in the Inn for Mary, who
was with child, and her husband Joseph.
How sad it is when people, for whatever reason, reject or
refuse to reach out and take God’s precious gift that is offered freely—His
gift of love to humanity.
(John 3:16) “For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.”
I speak from personal experience of the joy that filled my
heart when I reached out to God and received His perfect gift. My old nature of self-centeredness took
flight and the desire to share this gift with others became paramount, because
I received what I had been wanting my whole life but didn’t know exactly what
or who it was that could fill the emptiness inside me.
I guess you could call this voidness, “The God Vacuum.” It is shaped like Him and only He can fill
this empty space completely. People try
to fill this vacant cavity with material things, fame, fortune, and becoming
power mongers, but the fullness of God’s glory is not in things, but in Him.
Manmade counterfeits can only bring temporary pleasure and
supposed fixes to the vacancy of joy and peace in the God vacuum. These imitations are nothing lasting, but time-based
solutions to the ongoing desire for true peace.
As time passes, the reality of needing something more
tangible becomes apparent, yet the search continues, which creates more
frustration when happiness evades the one seeking peace. They are looking in the wrong places for it.
Substituting forgeries and imitations that present themselves as
answers for peace are deceptive and ineffective.
The result is a despairing venture in futility. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He alone fills the bottomless pit of loneliness
in a person’s heart. This hollow, gnawing
feeling in one’s gut disappears, quickly, when the Lord takes up residence
inside us. We need only to invite Him
in.
God forgives sin when we seek His forgiveness, rather
than trying to satisfy the yearning inside by our own resourcefulness. We have all sinned and need a Savior to set
us free from the bondage that sin brings.
I can only imagine the smile on Jesus’ face when I asked God
to forgive me of my sins. The Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit stepped across the threshold of my hungering heart
and filled me to overflowing with peace that passes all understanding. Even the angels in heaven rejoiced when I
said yes to the Holy Spirit’s beckoning.
When my family and grandchildren gather around the dinner
table at Christmas and I see the anticipation in their eyes as they gaze at the
gifts under the Christmas tree, I become awestruck when I think of the awesome gift
that my Heavenly Father gave to me. Jesus
Christ is the amazing gift that I was blessed with years ago. He is certainly the reason for the season and
every other day of the year.
I am thankful that I did not reject God’s only begotten
Son. Jesus not only filled the voidness
in my heart, but He also gave me the desire to share my experience with you,
the reader, so that you too can be filled with God’s glory.
Written by,
Papa Boyd
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