Older people had a way of saying something.  When my grandma called me and I responded vaguely with, I’m coming now, she would say: Yes, and Christmas too!

Here we are again.  Christmas is indeed coming.  November rushes past in a whirlwind of activities, and then December is upon us.  As always, it’s our challenge to provide the true essence of this delightful Christian festival, joyously celebrated amid a godless world.  If we don’t approach the festive season with intentionality, we might easily lapse into all the, mostly precious, traditions and rituals without determining the focus of our own hearts.

When we think of Christmas, we inevitably think of family, vacation, and delicious food.  Each of us has our own special way of celebrating Christmas.  It’s a favorite time of year for me.  The art and craft exhibitions, shop windows, Christmas markets, and beautiful music surround me, and I enjoy the creativity and beauty of our humanity amid dark and violent news and indescribable human suffering.

In reality, the life of Jesus cannot be compartmentalized.  Every Christmas, we celebrate not only the birth of Jesus but the full impact of His person on our world.  No one can ignore it.  Jesus’ Cross stands firmly planted across the timeline that divides our centuries, whether using modern names like Common Era or the more familiar Before Christ and Anno Domini.  It is precisely His death that makes the celebration of His birth possible.

In the darkness of a cruel war in Europe and the shocking news from the Middle East, we celebrate the Festival of Light and Life and realize again how precious human life is in the deeper meaning of the Advent words – Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. It is the fullness of God encapsulated in the human Jesus.

Nearly a thousand years before Jesus’ birth, David described the wonder of God in the human that Jesus was:

“For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.” (Psalms 36:10)

Jesus said much about the eye.  The way we view life determines our entire attitude towards it.  Here is the key to a perspective on life so that we may experience true life:

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  (Matthew 6:22,23)

It is with the right way of looking that we will truly see Jesus as the Fountain of Life, true life, and the Light through which our outlook will be enlightened. However, there are many things that cloud such an attitude towards life.

One of these is complaining.  Sometimes the word used for complaining is grumbling.  There’s a melody in the word that makes you “hear” the rumble of moaning.  A preacher explained it to me in a way I’ll never forget how disrespectful and rebellious an attitude of dissatisfaction can be before the Lord.

Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves], (Philippians 2:14-15,  Amplified)

Following this Scripture, the preacher explained that when a child of God complains about circumstances or other people in their life, they’re essentially pointing their finger at God, saying: I don’t like what you, God, are doing in my life, and if I were You, I would have done it differently.

It was disturbing to hear such rebellion in words.  It captured the essence of discontentment.  Such rebellion is equated with witchcraft in the Bible.

For rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. (1 Samuel 15:23)

We all know self-pity leads to poor decisions.  It’s the moment when I place myself on the throne of my heart and interpret others’ actions solely in the light of my own interests.

There’s only one remedy for self-pity and rebellion stemming from discontentment, and that’s gratitude.  It’s not just a prayer of thanks now and then; rather, it’s a lifestyle of gratitude. 

How will we remember?

The Word is our sword against the attack of our enemy.  Worship and praise are our cover and safe haven against that consuming fire of offense and discontentment within us.

Christmas, with all its challenges, often places us in a position of sadness and longing – loved ones far away, lack of money, struggles and conflicts with family or friends, sickness and weakness, and a myriad of other things that everyone can list as “wrong.”

Can we lift our eyes and pray the blind man’s prayer: “Lord, let me see“? Only then will we truly see Jesus as the Fountain of Life and the Light in which we see our true light so that the darkness within us is overcome.

From the Amplified Bible as equipment for our time:

Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not,  [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]

⁶ So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?  (Hebrews 13:5.6)