A "Perfect" Christmas
An Article by Renée Harms
Isn't Christmas an amazing time of year? It's the most exhilarating season of all, full of good will, festive activities and an abundance of tradition. My favorite part is definitely the tree. Every year I look forward with HUGE anticipation to finding the perfect tree, cutting it and decorating the branches with a new theme—just about as much as I look forward to the gifts that go under it! I know if I couldn't choose and cut my own tree, old Scrooge and I might be pals.
This year, my need for the "perfect" tree brought with it a new experience: for the first time in my life I undecorated and then redecorated my Christmas tree! Who does that?! It just wasn't quite right the first time, looking somewhat stiff and prickly, half-hearted, stoic. But since it's been redecorated, every night when I turn the tree lights on, I find myself sitting for minutes, simply basking in its wintery warmth, wrapped in the dreamlike feeling of Christmas. And it got me thinking…
Thousands of years ago, before the time of Jesus, God was known to man by His great power and awesome strength, His might and glory and His stern discipline. While always loving and caring for His people, He was also in many ways unapproachable, resulting in a distance in the relationship between God and man.
But one night all that changed. On an evening that started out like so many others before it, God entered the world as a baby—just like all of us. While retaining His absolute holiness and authority and all the things that naturally separated us from Him, He took on a new look, "redecorating" Himself so that we might be near Him. "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel—which means 'God with us.'" (Matt. 1:23) On the night Jesus was born, humanity's relationship with God changed forever. Thank God for the gift of His Son!
This Christmas, may you sense deeply the reality of Christ's approachableness, and bask in the warmth of a God whose love is so great He couldn't stay away.
We at Oxygen Multimedia Group would like to take this chance to thank you for your support throughout the year. During this holiday season, we will especially keep you in our prayers as you creatively share the miracle of Christ's love with people who need Him—whether they're hearing the Christmas story for the first time or the hundredth.
We also pray that you and your loved ones will be drawn especially close this Christmas season, and that your hearts will be filled to overflowing with His love as you meet the new year!
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