Christmas Day. The day when Jesus was supposedly born on. A day I don't enjoy very much (please see the post: My Thoughts On Christmas for the reasons)... a day that so often gets blown out of proportion by the world we live in. Christmas has become a day to exchange presents (millions gets spent on Christmas presents each year), a day so many children look forwards to as a day to receive the items on their wishlists, a day to eat food and to spend with family and friends. So often, the 'real' reason for Christmas, the reason why Christmas is celebrated at all, is pushed to one side and promptly forgotten. The birth of Jesus.
When I was growing up, my parents didn't tell me that Santa was real. I knew that my parents were the ones putting presents in my stocking... they didn't want my siblings and myself to loose focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Over the last few years I've been thinking more and more about Christmas. I'm not really keen on celebrating Christmas for the sake of it. I'm 'celebrating' Christmas as a reminder of God's goodness.
My relationship with God is the solid in my life of traveling and change. I've moved around more times than I'd like to count in the last four years, but one of the things that haven't changed is my relationship with God. Even if my whole life keeps changing, my relationship with God will always be there. From time to time, I have the realization, anew, of what Jesus actually means to me. If he hadn't come to earth as a baby, all those years ago, he wouldn't have died and I, a sinner, wouldn't be able to have a relationship with the Holy God. It blows me away actually. Jesus is fully God, but at the same time, He's fully man. He knew why He had to come to earth, to die for the sins of all mankind (past, present and future generations), He had to take sin on himself to make a way for the sinner to be made right with God. Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law of Moses and through His death and resurrection I can walk into the courts of the King of Heaven with my head held high. This is the greatest gift I have ever been given, and I will always be grateful for it.
God is the reason I'm in The Hague, serving Redeemer Church. God is the reason I'm alive and breathing. I love Him because He loved me first. That is the true meaning of Christmas: as John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."