How can we receive the best from Christmas? How can we best prepare for it?

Stomping through aisles of somber faced crowds in Wal-Mart or Target? (unlikely) 😉

Spending money you have….or don’t have on zillions of little presents which are sure to break (or be broken on someone else’s head) within the first month in your house? (we’re talking about the BEST from Christmas, right?)

Okay….how about the whole ‘chestnuts roasting on an open fire’ theme with your family gathered round, huddled in a warm fuzzy blanket, sipping mocha latte 😉 As delightful as that may sound (unless some of you just got a nauseating feeling about spending time in a warm fuzzy blanket with certain family members) – it’s still not the BEST of Christmas nor is it the BEST way to prepare for the true meaning of Christmas.

It’s not even the heart or focus of Christmas.

The purpose of Christmas is almost beyond description…or indescribable.

It’s about preparing our hearts and finding our focus.

About getting rid of all the distractions and unnecessary ‘things’.

It’s about wading through the bustling, noisy streets, moving through the crowded, distractingly busy inn, past the smelly animals and excited (maybe a little eccentric) shepherds, to focus our hearts, minds, and lives on a little child who came to shock the world and change the course of the future.

This little child did the unthinkable….the unimaginable…the inconceivable.

He was the Creator…the maker of heaven and earth. The Awesome Divine Master Craftsman of the vastness of the universe, the millions of stars, the rainbow variety of creatures on this spiraling ball of gas hanging from an invisible thread in the sky….this same All-Powerful being…chose to leave His perfection, His power and His glory to humble himself as a helpless, dependent, vulnerable human. His love goes beyond anything our human minds could picture or understand. His love shines into our thickest darkness and provides hope that shatters the security of human reason. It doesn’t make sense…and if we really ponder on it for a little while, our minds become overwhelmed.

God came down. God became human. God died for us.

It’s when we find our focus in Him, that we receive the true heartbeat of what Christmas is all about.

An awesome, incredible, magnificent – I can’t even find the right words to describe it….an indescribable love.

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