I love Christmas. I love picking out perfect gifts and listening to carols while wrapping. I love baking cookies and watching movies before a fire. I love decking the halls and the porch and the mailbox with bows of bright red.
The Second week of Advent focuses on Love: God’s love.
God first authored love when He sent Jesus.
He loves you and me so much, He sent Jesus to earth to build a bridge over the chasm that sin forged between us and God.
In the hustle and bustle of preparation it’s easy to forget the meaning of Christmas is love. It’s why we buy presents and work to build memories for family and friends. We love them.
It’s why we want to help in our communities: to show God loves them.
It’s why we enjoy quiet moments before a sparking tree in a silent house: to contemplate and give thanks for how God loves us.
Jesus asked a very important question in John 21:15: “Do you love me more than these?”
We could easily personalize that question today. “Stefanie, do you love Me more than these?”
More than carols,
More than gifts,
More than meals,
More than bright red bows,
More than fires and movies and memories,
Do you love Me more than these?
Yes, Jesus, I do.
And I also really like those other things, too!
He wants us to enjoy the gifts of people to love and children to care for, and for us to treasure the blessing of seeing how our small actions can touch someone else’s heart. He takes pleasure in seeing us anticipate decorating for visitors and savoring the sweet notes of Christmas songs.
This I know about Christmas: it is truly a special, magical, and uplifting time of year.
It’s also a time that these truths are confirmed to me:
God loves the world.
God loves His children.
God loves me.
So much, He sent His Son, Jesus, to help carry me back to Him.
As much as I love the trimmings and trappings of Christmas, I know I love Jesus more. I dearly appreciate that we can celebrate with festivity and frolic with family. But even if we could not, my heart would still leap in anticipation as December 25 draws near. Because the older I get, the more I understand the wonderment of how deeply God loves me.
Want to know a secret? He loves you just as deeply. He wants us both to know that truth, and to be able to enjoy the gift of celebrating with those we love. Let’s ask Him to help us do just that.
Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank You that You love me more than anything. Please help me as I navigate this celebratory time of year. Help me pause in wonder as I contemplate and experience Your lavish love for me. Please also help me to share that love with others around me, too. May my actions share Your heart as I delight in Your Son’s birth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.