It Is About Jesus!

This is the time of year when things just seem to get busier.  I went to the Grocery store tonight and there was a lot of people out shopping.  The traffic on the road seemed rather heavy as well.  People are our shopping for food and perhaps some Christmas presents for friends and loved ones.   I like presents, just saying.  I think everyone does.  Well, maybe most people.  I am sure there are some who just don't like presents.  There are some people that I have meet that seem like they just don't like anything or anybody. 

We all know people like that I am afraid.  Sometimes we get that way ourselves if we are honest.  We may not be feeling well and it effects our attitude and we get cranky.  There are some who seem to be stuck in the foul mood of crankiness.  It can be rather addicting when you start doing it a lot and sometimes it almost seems like it is contagious.  Maybe that is one of the many things that is wrong with our world these days.  There is an epidemic of crankiness and it is spreading like wild fire. 

When we look around us we tend to wonder if indeed that is the case.  Our culture seems to be cranky and needy and dissatisfied.   It seems that this mood is in our government.  It is in the people we come in contact with when we leave our homes.  It may even be in the people who live in our homes and unfortunately this crankiness is even in our very selves as well.

When I think of the crankiness that we encounter within ourselves and in others I am reminded when the children of Israel come out of Egypt.  The Lord had Moses and Aaron go to Egypt and try to persuade Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out to the desert to worship the Lord, but Pharaoh didn't give in to their demands.  The Lord sent plague after plague then finally Pharaoh let them go.

The Lord parted the Red Sea so that the Israelites could escape the pursuing Egyptian army that Pharaoh sent after them because he changed his mind.  The army of the Egyptians drowned when the Red Sea was came back to where it belonged. 

The Israelites were safe at last and they were free from the bondage of slavery.  The Lord had brought the out of the land of Egypt and He was taking them to the promised land.  This land would be an amazing land that flowed with milk and honey and best of all it would be their land. 

You would think that the Israelites would be grateful for all the Lord had done for them and all that He was about to do for them in the future, but no they weren't. 

They got cranky.  I guess that is just human nature.  When things don't go the way we think they should go, we get cranky. 

We who are believers in Jesus Christ should be grateful for all that He has done for us.  Maybe it is time for us to get things in perspective.  We were in bondage to sin and God out of His great love for us sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to earth as a baby born of a virgin, placed in a manger. 

We celebrate the first coming of Jesus later this month.  What a great present that God gave human beings.  He didn't stop at the manger.  The story just starts at Christmas.   Jesus grew up and lived a perfect sinless life.  Then He bore the horrible punishment for our sins.  The punishment that you and I so rightly deserve.  Jesus died in our place on the Cross.  He shed His blood for our sins and not just for yours and mine, but also for the entire human race. 

He was taken down from the Cross and placed in a borrowed tomb, but even the grave couldn't hold Him very long.  God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day.  He was taken to Heaven where He is at the right hand of the Father.  One day Jesus will return perhaps very soon.

Jesus didn't leave us to fend for ourselves here on earth as we wait for His return, but He gives the Holy Spirit to indwell everyone who has put their faith and trust in Him and His finished work on the Cross.

We are so deeply loved.  We are so deeply blessed.  We should be deeply grateful for all the Lord has done for us.  We shouldn't be cranky.  We all get that way sometimes.  We need to refocus on the true meaning of Christmas.

It is not about shopping.

It is not about giving gifts or receiving gifts from others.

It is not about decorations.

It is not about parades.

It is not about eating sweats and large meals.

It is not about maxing out our credit cards and then spend the first six months of the new year trying to pay them off.

No, Christmas is not about any of that.

It is all about Jesus Christ and what He came to earth to do for us.  He did something that we couldn't do ourselves.  Jesus came to save us from our sinful, cranky selves.  He came as the perfect gift to receive.  Jesus was born to die that we may be born again to live with Him for all eternity.

The reason of the season is Jesus.

When we start to feel cranky and we start seeing the crankiness spreading around us let us stop and remember that it is all about Jesus Christ.

He died for our sins.

He is our Savior.

He is our Redeemer.

He came to set the captives free.

He will even set us free from our crankiness if we allow Him too.

Lord,
We thank You for loving us even though we do get cranky at times.
Help us to have an attitude of gratitude.
Help us to remember that Jesus Christ is the reason for the season.
Thank You Lord for all that You have done for us and all that You are still doing.
I uplift everyone who is going through a hard time this time of the year.
I pray that Your loving hand will be on each one Lord.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen.