The birth of Jesus Christ was the pivotal point of all history. It marked forever, “God with us” forever. Those who accept Christ will experience God forever. As Gentiles, we had no hope of experiencing any of this (Ephesians 2:12). Christ birth gave us hope. Christ must be ‘the must’ in Christmas because His arrival marked the new beginning.
A young man named Lindsay whose’ father was a distant and severe man, worked him especially hard during the holidays. Lindsay was given extra chores at the family ranch, and his old man whipped him if he didn’t work hard enough. Lindsay lived in fear of these beatings, which often drew blood. What was even worse were the verbal floggings, the names, the insults, and the belittling put-downs. They seemed especially harsh at Christmas.
These memories stayed with him all his life, tormenting him like demons every December. One friend said, “Lindsay was never able to find happiness. He became a hard-drinking hell-raiser who went from woman to woman and couldn’t find peace or success.”
Finally at age fifty-one, he angrily watched Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” one last time, and then put a gun to his head and a bullet through his brain. “I hated Christmas because of Pop, and I always will,” he once said. It brings back the pain and fear I suffered as a child. And if I ever do myself in, it will be at Christmastime. That will show the world what I think of Bing Crosby’s `White Christmas.” Ironically and sadly, he was Bing’s son; – Lindsay Crosby, (written by Robert J. Morgan “Stories, Illustrations and Quotes”).
This terrible bizarre story is itself a parable of what happens when we get Christmas out of its true glory. If only Lindsay had really understood that Jesus Christ was born to die for our sins, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18 NIV). God through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, because of Christ birth and death, makes us into a brand “new creation so that old things will pass away and behold all things become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Don’t let others steal the true joy of Christmas by removing the source of joy, Jesus Christ. His gift is the gift of life. This is the season that should rekindle our hope in Him for strength, joy, love, and a lasting future. Don’t be the grinch this season or this year.
What would we do differently if Jesus were to physically arrive on Christmas day at our doorstep?
