Don't Miss Christmas

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, "Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. - Revelation 1:17-18

The Christmas season is a special time of year and most of us truly love it! Our days and nights are filled with sweet images of the infant Jesus, swaddled and lying upon a bed of fragrant hay while mom, dad, the shepherds (and the Father) look on.

Of course, in America, it has also become many other things. Santa, gifts, family, and food. Sweet.

Then we read John's account of his vision of this self-same babe who became a man ...

and healed

and taught

and rebuked

and walked (on water)

and fed

and cleansed

and bled, suffered, died

and rose again

and ascended

and said, "I AM."

It is good to remember the birth of our Savior and enjoy the season but let us not (in all our celebrations) make the mistake of losing the Christ, the Word, the First and the Last, the Victorious, Living Son of the Loving, Living God.

Samuel Stennett wrote, "Majestic sweetness sits enthroned."  Yes, it did and yes, He still does.

In the United States, Christmas has become the rape of an idea. - Richard Bach