Are you ready for Christmas? This is a frequent question I have been asked recently, and maybe you have to. I immediately think about all the ‘things’ that still need to be done and answer with those in mind. Yet, that is not what Christmas is about. I should be able to answer, “Yes, I am ready,” confidently. “I can’t wait to celebrate our Lord and Savior’s birth.” But I don’t. Instead, I list all the reasons I am behind, along with everything that still needs to be done. Can you relate?

One of our favorite traditions during Christmas is to watch Christmas movies. Dr. Suess wrote, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!¹ It has been turned into three films that I know of and has been an enormous success. Towards the end of the movie, the Grinch has a profound epiphany. “And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”

The Grinch is correct, Christmas means a lot more than packages, boxes, or bags. There is only one reason we celebrate.

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!’ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” Luke 2:1-20.

Christmas is about God’s amazing love. Jesus gave up His heavenly throne and humbled Himself to be born in an animal’s food trough among the filth in a stable. He lived a sinless life and then sacrificed Himself to die on a cross to pay for our sins. He did all of this for you and me. This Christmas, don’t allow all the trappings to distract you from the true meaning of Christmas: God’s great love for us. Take some time with our Savior to reflect on His love and praise Him for it.

Have a Merry Christmas as you celebrate our Lord’s birth with your family and friends.

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1. Theodore Geisel, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, (New York: Random House, 1957).