Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It looks and feels like the winter day that it is, and somehow it feels more like Christmas time to me because of it. I spent my time with the Living God this morning in my kitchen with a hot cup of coffee close by, but I had to work hard to focus on Him instead of the unfinished Christmas projects around me…gifts still in progress…things in need of my time. Every time I tried to focus on Him, I found my mind wondering to other things. Every time I began to read His Words, I found myself thinking about something else. It wasn’t until I physically moved away from the distractions that I was able to give Him 110% of my attention AND NOW I’m ready to tackle my day. Isn’t that the way it is with you sometimes too?

Of all of the times of the year, I think Christmas time is the easiest time to lose our focus on what Christmas is supposed to represent in the first place…the celebration of our HOPE. I love the tinsel and the glitter and the lights and the nativity scenes just as much as anybody else; but nothing about those things can adequately depict what we’re supposed to be celebrating at all. No amount of tinsel or glitter or lights or nativity scenes can soothe the heart of someone mourning the loss of a loved one, and no decoration can camouflage the loneliness the heart feels…but our HOPE in Jesus can put things into perspective and His Love can mend the most broken of hearts IF we’re sure to focus on Him and not the party we have in His Name. There’s obviously a competitive edge when it comes to homes decorated for Christmas and I’m not the One to judge whatever makes people happy. But I’m pretty sure that the more lights they have or the bigger tree they decorate doesn’t represent a bigger Faith or paint a more significant picture of the Celebration of His birth at all. In fact, if we do what we do this time of year truly in Honor of Him; I’m pretty sure just a simple candle in a window and a focused Heart would please Him more than we could ever imagine.

Of all the times of year that we have as an “open door” to share the story of Christ and His saving Grace with our world; Christmas is probably the time of year that we share the Gospel the least. Sometimes I think we’re too busy trying to make things LOOK like Christmas that we overlook the need to make it FEEL like Christmas. Having a nativity scene in the privacy of our homes (or on the front lawn) just looks like just decoration to the rest of the world, UNLESS we’re willing to tell them about the Reason we celebrate in the first place. Making sure that we say “Merry Christmas” or that we make mention of the birth of Jesus is a good thing. But our celebration isn’t as simple as a birthday party for a baby born long ago. His birth marks the Beginning of the ONLY Hope the world has at all! When Christ was born in that manger so long ago, the God-clock began to count down, and just 30 years or so after His birth; He took on the sins of the world and He died a miserable death for you and for me. His Birth marks the Beginning of our Hope, and His Birth is a reminder of Salvation and Redemption all because he was Born just to die for the world. Without His birth we’d have absolutely nothing…no Hope,no Forgiveness, no Redemption, no Joy, no Future…no Good thing at all. When we look at it that way, how could we NOT sing His Praises and how could we possibly contain our Excitement over the Birth of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? How is it possible that we are inclined to allow the distractions of the Birthday Party to override the meaning for why we Celebrate in the first place?

I’m burning the candle at both ends making gifts for my family that will hopefully last for a generation or two. We’ll have a feast on Christmas day and I’ll love every second of the time the Christmas tree is up and the candles are lit in my windows. But I’ll fight with everything I’ve got to NOT lose my focus on what this Celebration is REALLY all about and instead of just saying “Merry Christmas” or this is “Jesus’ birthday” I’ll share the rest of the Story with everyone I can.

How about you?