Considering Christmas

Christmas is celebrated in many cultures around the world in many different ways. But there is one tradition common to all of them, giving gifts. Why is that? What's the connection between gifts and Christmas. It started with the gifts God gave to all of us, the universe, galaxies, stars, animals, the Earth we live on, the very gift of life. These are all gifts given by a God who loves us, knows us, and wants us to know him. But something has gone wrong. We have turned away from the one who gave us these gifts. We have treated them with carelessness and neglect. We've even convinced ourselves they weren't gifts at all, that they just happened and they mean nothing. Thus, we have become alienated from our maker and from one another. So what does all this have to do with Christmas? 2000 years ago, a baby was born in an insignificant town ruled by a powerful empire. Christmas is the celebration of his birth. Why was he so special that we now celebrate his birth today? We celebrate because even though we have turned our back on him, God decided to give us the best gift of all, the gift of himself. He came down to Earth as a human being to live and die and rise again, all to show us that he knows us and loves us and gives each one of us the opportunity to know him. His name is Jesus. And today, Jesus wants to give each one of us a new gift, the gift of life and a fresh start, the gift of forgiveness and a personal relationship with our maker, and the promise of eternal life. Jesus is the gift we celebrate at Christmas.