Tuesday, December 19, 2017 

       I was happily reminded Sunday in Pastor Ruben’s article in our church bulletin about a tradition that many people look forward to during the Christmas season. I am referring to friends and families getting together, some coming from far distances just to spend time with those they love. Even as you are reading these words, some of you have already made plans about those you and your family will be visiting. From the very first time I heard Perry Como’s “There’s No Place Like Home For The Holidays”, I immediately loved and identified with it. The song was released when I was 14 years old and back then, one of the things I loved the most about Christmas was that our large family would get together. Just in our immediate family alone, there were around seventy so you can imagine just how packed our house would get. Those days are just a memory now, but because of the One for whom this time of the year is named, our family will get together again, this time in Heaven, and there will be no more painful separations.

       You may wonder “Who thought of starting this beautiful tradition? When did it begin?” It started with God at the creation of the world. From the very beginning, He loved to have fellowship with the man and the woman He created, and even though they later disobeyed Him, He still wanted to be with them. Because of Adam’s sin, however, the dealings between God and man would not be as beautiful and meaningful as before. It continued like that for many centuries and then God made a way for the former type of fellowship with man to be restored. More than 600 years before it actually occurred, God called His prophet, Isaiah, to inform His people of how that would come to be. He prophesied: “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) God’s people knew that “Immanuel” means “God with us.” Through His Son, Jesus Christ, (Messiah) there would now be a way for Him to continue having fellowship with those He loved.

       Why do we love to be with our friends and family during the Christmas season? I think it is because we are made in the image of God. Just as He desires to have fellowship with those He loves, so do we. If, for whatever reason, Christmas and the observance or celebration of it means little or nothing to you, keep this in mind: Christmas is one more reminder that God wants to be with you. He wants to be a big part of your life. Why? Because He loves you! Just on that alone, should that not be a valid reason to have comfort and Joy? I pray that it is.

God’s word for today: (1 Peter 1:8 NLT) “You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.”