As I stood in line at the grocery store, I overheard a man and his friend talking. He was recalling how miserable the chaos of the holiday season is and discussed the difficulty of travel plans and timing of visits. Then he said the unspeakable, "Christmas is HELL!"
After getting over the ultimate Scrooge moment, I thought about it. If the truth be known, you, like me, can get so busy "doing" Christmas that we start to dread even the fun stuff. We can get to a point of thinking just like that man in the line at the grocery store.
As I left and thought about the conversation and processed my own to do list, I concluded that it may be chaos, but HELL it is not. Hell is a place of torment, death and destruction. A place of eternal agony and separation from purpose and life-void of God. So while Christmas may be chaotic and for some a difficult and even miserable point in the year, it is temporary. So here is my take on it, Christmas is HELL...Changed
Christmas changed it all. Really, the census, the donkey ride, the virgin birth, the baby in a manger, the shepherds in the field at night, the Wise men and the gifts...the only begotten Son of God came to earth Emmanuel. This is why we celebrate---we party and run around like mad. We shop so we can give gifts to people we care about enough to journey through snow and valley or we drag suitcases and kids through airports. We pack on pounds at get togethers and go in to debt to be with our family, now mater how dysfunctional they may be.
Christmas is the reminder, the remembrance of what changed it all! The coming of a baby boy. (Read the story: Luke 2:1-20). We need Christmas because without it we ARE going to HELL! Without Christmas we would be eternally lost. (Romans 3:23; Colossians 3:5-6; Galatians 5:19-21)
Christmas is hope. It's Peace on earth and in my life. It is the joy of heaven given to earth. See, before Christmas all of us were lost and without hope because we all have sin in our life. We are born into sin and have a sin habit. A habit to live for and to please our self.
Recently I read a devotion that said, "God is Holy, so He cannot tolerate any sin. None! He will not hear us through our sin, and so, if we remain in our sin, we remain forever separated from God and destined for Hell."
That is the greatness of Christmas, Praise God! The miracle of baby Jesus presented the glorious night years ago! He came so that through Him we CAN be saved, completely forgiven of our sins, and enter the presence of a Holy God! (John 3:16; John 18:37)
Timothy, an early church missionary and foundational figure in the spread of the Gospel, said it this way in 1 Timothy 1:15 Christ Jesus came to save sinners.
We may feel worn out by Christmas today and we may be so ready for the season to be over. We may be lost in the chaos or worse, lost in our own sin. But take heart! The Baby has come-He has overcome the world and rescued sinners from despair. He is Emmanuel, God with us. Pease on Earth and peace for our life today!
Rejoice...Christmas is Hell...CHANGED!
