Please Note:

[As part of my Christmas Blog Break 2008, I'm re-posting Christmas articles from the past!  Hope you enjoy and have a great Christmas and New Years - I ought to be back sometime after the first of the year - unless of course something comes up that I just can't resist! - Louie]

Originally posted: 12/6/2005:

I have the reputation of not liking Christmas. It’s completely undeserved but well earned after years of working hard to construct it!

But a few years ago I changed my mind about Christians celebrating Christmas. Formerly I had thought it was hopelessly commercialized and ought to be abandoned. However, I’ve changed my mind and think we ought to be focusing on celebrating it as a true holiday – Holy Day and focus on Christ.

What you end up doing with all the traditional decorations, etc. I could care less about! I still have no tree, lights, etc. and will not have any either! That makes it simpler for me to focus on the birth of the Savior, which is what it’s all about anyway. (For more info you can read my earlier post about this here.)

Which brings me to Psalm 123, one of the Psalms of Ascent. These Psalms are thought by many scholars to have been chanted or recited by the ancient Hebrews as they traveled up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord during their feasts.

This one is great, because it helps us focus on what’s important – and in the end what’s really most important is God and His Will for our lives. Look at what the Psalmist wrote:

I lift up my eyes to you,
to you whose throne is in heaven.
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us,
for we have endured much contempt.
We have endured much ridicule from the proud,
much contempt from the arrogant.
Psalms 123:1-4 (NIV)

I love how centered on God this is! Christmas time is a time of incredible distraction for all of us – yet here we are reminded to look to God with love and devotion. Isn’t it strange how strongly we’ll defend calling it Christmas not Winter Break (or some other type of terminal foolishness) and then turn around and spend practically no time focusing on Christ Himself?

But even more meaningful to me is the cry for mercy. Now’s that’s something I can completely relate to and understand.

We all need God’s mercy and grace every day of our lives!

And that’s what’s Christmas is all about isn’t it? God giving us grace through the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. That’s where grace comes from – the only source of the grace that both saves and sustains us is Christ!

Perhaps this year Christmas might remind us that we need grace every day – not just to be saved from hell. Grace does that to be sure – but it’s not just “fire insurance.” For we need grace everyday to even begin living the kind of lives that will please God, fit into His plan for our lives, and be a blessing to others. To say nothing about bring us the peace and joy we all hope our lives will be filled with.

So, take a second before plunging into your hectic schedule today and focus on God, cry out to Christ for His Grace – and then go!

Go and keep focused on Him throughout whatever your day may bring you.