The Nativity story is a very beautiful story that we all love to hear come Christmas every year, but we often forget that it was the story of the beginning of the life of a man, a man that came to die at the very early age of thirty-three, and rose from a dark grave, to take victory over death so that we all could have victory over death. He came from Bethlehem, but he left by way of the cross.
You might say to me, “That’s what we celebrate Easter for” and I would agree, to a certain point. But Christmas should be about celebrating the man’s life while he was here with us on this earth. It should also remind us of the goodness that he brought to us all; the hope, the vision and the love that he had to share.
His very existence was the Story of the love a Father had for His son and the love a God had for His people. The Father chose to give up his son, which he loved so dearly, because he loved us all.
The day that Jesus was born unto Mary, was the day that the journey to that cross began. It was the day that God saw His only son begin a life that would end in the hands of those he had sent to save. But it was meant to be, and because of it we are free.
We celebrate Christmas by handing out gifts to each other, symbolic of the great gift that God gave to us on that day, but let us also celebrate it in celebrating the life of Jesus as well, by being a blessing along our own life’s way to someone in need. Let us love each other as he told us to do and by doing so we will also honor him. Let us give generously throughout the year, not only with our money but with our time and even our ear.
Let us also turn from hate and find understanding, and be a light in the darkness of this world. Let us give hope and not despair; comfort and not scorn. Let us show humility and honor, and stand up for the defenseless and the helpless. These were just some of the virtues of the man whose birth we celebrate.
Let Christmas be the beginning of a journey for us all, to be a better person, and a better nation and a better world. Let it lead us down a better road, and let our future Christmases always remind us of the road that Jesus took for us all.