Too Busy for Christmas?
by Hal Lindsey
Bethlehem was a small town. Even so, few people had any inkling of the glorious event taking place among them on the first Christmas. The citizens of Bethlehem didn’t know that because of a birth taking place in a stable in their little town that night, calendars would one day be set to that year as the anchor of history. That night’s birth has been celebrated ever since, two thousands years and counting, and by billions of people.
The Bethlehemites were close by, but unaware. Why? Maybe because they were busy... just like we are.
Like us, they were learning and working, providing for their loved ones, and even trying to have a little fun. And in their occupation with life’s day-to-day, they missed the most important event in history — even though it was happening in their midst.
We, too, can grow ragged with anxieties and cares. Ironically, it is at this time of year, Christmas, that we’re often most busy. What a shame if the busyness of the holiday celebrating Christ’s birth kept us from the joy of that birth.
And the amazing thing is, we are as close to Him now as they were in Bethlehem that night. In fact, we’re even closer. We’re as close as a whispered prayer.
Yet, too often, we ignore Him. It’s a choice that God gives us. We can disregard Him, brush Him off, give Him the cold-shoulder — or get to know Him, receive pardon for our sins, and celebrate Him. Accepting His gift of salvation honors His birth because that’s why He came into the world. In John 12:46, Jesus said, “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”
Whether you’ve just come to know Him, or walked with Him for most of a lifetime, I hope you will take the time this season, not just to “do Christmas,” but to celebrate the greatest gift of all — Jesus, the Son of the living God.
As one anonymous writer put it, “He came to die on a cross of wood; yet made the hill on which it stood.” That is the heart of what Christmas is really about. So don’t let the true meaning of Christmas be crowded out by lesser things. Merry Christmas