It's All About Him!

This year I got talked into doing something I really don’t enjoy doing: shopping on Black Friday, or is it Black Thursday now?  Unbelievably many retailers now attempt to catch multitudes of bargain hungry shoppers on Thanksgiving Day!

 I must admit that I, too, got caught up in the frenzy, but I didn’t stand a chance.  Here’s why: both of my daughters begged and pleaded with me to go shopping, which they have done for the past few years.  Their begging and pleading worked; I was weak this time, and just couldn’t say “No”.

However, I was not without a plan: I went out with my twelve year-old daughter at 8:00 on Thanksgiving Day to catch a video game/board game sale, and then at 12:00 a.m. (can you believe it!) my teenage daughter and I went out to catch a sale at a department store in the mall----we didn’t get home until 3:00 am!!  What madness!!  But it really was a lot of fun, and I actually got some of my Christmas shopping accomplished.  And I especially liked the fact that it was a special time of fun and bonding with each of my daughters one-on-one.

As I thought about this little “Black Thursday/Black Friday” adventure, and seeing the gobs of people out shopping into the wee hours of the morning, it made me think that perhaps this is all that Christmas means to many of them.  Shopping until you drop, buying and spending (sometimes too much!), getting caught up in the retail chaos, attending parties, the decorating, preparing for visits from out-of-town friends and family, and a myriad of other holiday traditions are not necessarily bad things; but these things should not divert our minds to cause us to forget about the true meaning of Christmas. 

Holiday traditions and activities should not be the main focus; the season is all about HIM, the One who came as a humble little baby to be born of a virgin mother, who would one day become our wonderful and glorious Savior.

As Christmas day quickly approaches, may we all slow down from the whirlwind of things on our “to do” list and take some time to reflect on the true meaning of the season: God came in the flesh to save us from our sins!    Wow, what a marvelous truth to celebrate.  Remember, it’s all about HIM!!

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name, Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”  Matthew 1:21