DOES IT MATTER?

Most of us were brought up on Christmas trees and gifts to gladden the heart. When I was growing up in Australia that was still suffering the results of the Second World War, I anxiously waited to see what Santa brought me. On one occasion I received a railway engine that my Dad had laboriously crafted from a block of wood at his workplace. Apparently it was not to my liking, and I, ungrateful little brat that I was, registered my displeasure and disappointment. But all in all, Christmas Day was a lot of fun with special food and even ice cream. We all loudly sang Christmas carols and remembered how Jesus was born in Bethlehem on December 25.

I later found out He was not born on Christmas Day. That day was actually an old Pagan feast. For a while, I piously refused to acknowledge Christmas Day, but thankfully the years have mellowed this old stubborn pilgrim. The real truth that defies debate is that the Son of God was born. The Bible doesn’t tell us when, because the date doesn’t matter. What matters is that He was born as a human being, which makes the rest of us humans pretty special. God became a human in the person of Jesus. Humans must be important because God became one. This tells me God must love us lots, and that no one is of no consequence.

You are special to God. Jesus came to save us from this mess that sin created. He has a plan to lift us heavenward one day. The future is glorious. That momentous event we call the Nativity is worth celebrating. His birth changed everything. Let’s celebrate it every day, including December 25.

— John Carter