Christmas Treasures

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Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year. I’m not just saying that—I mean it really is! I’ve got 5.3 hours of Christmas music in my playlist this year…it’s awesome! I just love the season and everything that’s with it. And New York City this time of year is the BEST!

You may think you know where this blog is going, but you don’t! I’m going to ask what Christmas is about…is it about the presents? You respond: no, it’s about Jesus. Right? He’s the “reason for the season” as they say.
Christmas is also about love. That’s the “Christmas Spirit.” God loved us so much that He gave us His son, to save us from our sins! Jesus is the greatest present we could ever get. We need to be loving and be generous just like God is.

All of this is right. But here’s the thing: even the movies get this one right. You can watch Christmas movies where they realized Christmas is about more than presents; it’s really about love, and maybe even Jesus. But what happens next? They go out and do something really nice and self-less. But does the holiday become any more about Jesus? It really seems like He just becomes and example to follow instead of the object of Christmas, even among Christians.

Ok Matt, so what do you want us to do? Sing Jesus “Happy Birthday” this Christmas (believe it or not we did that once)? That’s not quite it.

After the angels appeared before the shepherds in Luke 2, they went to go see the newborn Baby in the manger. They told Mary and Joseph about what the angels said, and also told the people around them. It says that the people wondered at the things the shepherds were saying, “but Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Later on, Mary does this same thing in Luke 2:51 when she and Joseph find Jesus teaching in the Temple.

Mary has the right response to Christmas.

Christmas is amazing. It’s glorious. It’s so much fun. It’s about love. It’s about giving. It’s about generosity. It’s about Jesus. But we need to RESPOND to these things…not just put a nativity scene above the fireplace and say, “Gee, isn’t that a nice thing God did for us. How cute is that Baby Jesus??”

We need to respond like Mary did: to treasure and ponder in our heart. Someone once said, “Pondering is the place between praying and thinking about something.” This Christmas, I challenge you to treasure what Jesus has done for you in your everyday life, to treasure His gift of salvation, and to ponder them in your heart.

Even if you don’t sing “Happy Birthday Jesus” this Christmas, spend some time in that special place reflecting on the Savior’s love for you.

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