Christmas

I am what I am, not because of what I've done, what I do, or what I try to do. I am what I am by what's already been done through God's Son, Jesus Christ.

As Christmas day is approaching in an hour or two from now, I was looking through facebook and saw this on my live feed:

"The greatest and most momentous fact which the history of the world records is the fact of his birth."
-Charles Spurgeon

And as much as we war and toil to remember "what Christmas is about" we have to admit that there are a billion more things fighting for our attention especially during the Christmas season . All the Christmas-y feelings and traditions and whatnot seem to confuse me more than anything. With all the hopes of snow, all the presents under the tree, all the red and green, all the food that's being prepared, it's hard to remember that the mission from the start of Jesus' life on this earth was to fulfill the law by being nailed to a cross. And upon looking at this all too familiar truth, it begins to almost bring a hammer down and shatter a lot of traditions and empty hopes. Praise God for the death-defeating resurrection of Christ. I think this is the grounds for celebration. May the joys of presents, snow, and time spent with family stem from this. Our portion, our joy, our delight and satisfaction ... is found in Him. Let's rejoice in God.

The gospel of Jesus Christ always overwhelmingly shames this "are you naughty or nice" Santa Clause Christmas crap. Let us remember what we're rejoicing in.

*Note to future Jon: Don't let your kids buy into the Santa Clause crap. I think it's crept into our doctrine way way way more than we'd want to admit. Teach them about the grandeur and beauty of Jesus Christ.