Holy Holidays...!?

"But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me." Psalm 3:3-5 Here we are, the CHRISTmas holidays have arrived again. I mean, is it really that time already? As I grow older, I realize that time slips away quickly. Once it is gone, you can't retrieve it again--it fades into time known as past. 2018 will soon be just that--behind us, past, over, and part of history. When I think back over the events & happenings of the year, I recall heartaches & hurts, pain & adversity, tragedy & death...depressing, huh? However, I also recall love, great victories and triumphs, miracles that only God could have accomplished, and those things give me hope. I know that when things go wrong, GOD is my Shield. He gives me strength to hold my head high when all of Hell seems to come against me. He answers me when I pray--sometimes in that still, small voice or nudge in my spirit, sometimes in thunderous rumbles, and sometimes through the kindness or words of a friend or stranger--angels He sends to minister to me in times of darkness. He sustains me, covers me with His Peace and grants me rest--even in times of great distress. I read God's Word find this, "Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone." Lamentations 3:32-33 There's more..."For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God." 1 Peter 2:19, and, "But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction." Job 36:15, "My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:2.Then, approaching the end of the Bible in the Book of Revelation, I find this, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4 The proverbial "light bulb" comes on for me and I realize that though there is pain & suffering in this life, there are also wonderful blessings in the present life and, better yet, the hope of what is to come. While much of the world celebrates CHRISTmas with lights & trees, Santa & elves, ornaments & tinsel, etc., I choose to celebrate The Nativity--GOD's Gift to this world in the form of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. While I see nothing inherently wrong with other types of celebration of the holidays, I find it sad that the message of Christ seems lost in the busyness of what has become the holiday season. Suddenly, I find myself reminded of the lyrics to a favorite old song... God sent His son, they called Him Jesus; He came to love, heal and forgive He lived and died to buy my pardon, An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives! Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives! I'm also reminded of a particularly well-known verse of Scripture, "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." John 3:16 Jesus--the One, True, Son of GOD--came as a gift to this world, to love, heal & forgive, so all humanity has the opportunity to come to a saving knowledge of Him so we can spend eternity with GOD in Heaven. I want to celebrate Him! I want to make Him known! I want to the world to recognize this season as a celebration of Him! I guess it's more than sadness I feel--its frustration and downright anger that this world He came to save chooses to ignore Him, to doubt His Existence, to discount His Great Worth and the Sacrifice He made. I'm told I'm a Grinch or a Scrooge, because while I love everything CHRISTmas is, I've come to detest what it has become. I want the world to make room for Him in their celebrations. I want the world to make room for him in their hearts, homes, communities & churches. I want the world to simply acknowledge Him for Who He is and recognize CHRISTmas (and every other day) as a celebration of Him! But, I can't do it alone. Will you help me make Him known? Blessings! Tony