Reason for the Season

During the holidays, it's easy to get wrapped up in all the festivities and forget the actual purpose behind them. It's easy to get so absorbed into planning the perfect Christmas meal, detailing the way Christmas morning will go, listing out all the presents to buy, and preparing to enjoy time with your loved ones that you actually don't enjoy the time with your loved ones. Instead, it becomes a chore. An exhausting, hectic, stressful chore.

I know the holidays have officially passed and most likely all the stress that came with them is slowly dissipating, but I still feel like people need a reminder of what the holiday's are all about.

They aren't about presents and food and, no, not even family. They're about one person and one person only, and that's Jesus Christ. The Christmas season is about celebrating the birth of our risen Savior, and unless we actually consciously acknowledge this fact, we can easily trudge through the holidays not truly thinking about what we're celebrating.

And this is one way that we can let the holidays drain us mentally, physically and emotionally.

When we forget to acknowledge that Christmas isn't about Santa or what we put under the tree, but is instead about the King of Kings who was born of a virgin, came to Earth to live and die for you and me, and has risen and is alive, waiting for us in Heaven, the holidays become a chore. They're no longer a celebration as much as an obligation.

I've noticed in my short life that when people focus more on what they're buying their kids and less on where their kids will spend eternity, the holidays become almost sour. Instead of reminding kids (and even adults) that Christmas is about Jesus' birth and not about a big man in a red suit, Christmas becomes draining.

I have to be honest; I have been guilty of this in the past, and yes, even partly this Christmas. But it's taught me exactly what I'm telling you - by forgetting the reason for the season, the holidays are exhausting.

It can become mentally draining for a variety of reasons, most of which I've noticed tend to boil down to what we will be buying others. We put too much thought into what we can buy others so that they'll know just how much we care for them, but in reality, if we truly cared for them, we'd be more concerned with their eternity than their Christmas present. I hate to say it but, I know that I've been guilty of this. Maybe not this year, but I definitely have in the past. I know I have been so focused on figuring out what I want to buy someone, I didn't even bother to wonder if they were a follower of Christ. And isn't that sad? I was more concerned about buying them something that would give them momentary happiness that I wasn't even focused on whether or not they would receive eternal happiness.

I completely missed the point of Christmas.

Another way I've noticed it's draining is physically. We wear ourselves out trying to cook and clean and entertain and organize and plan and shop and decorate, that we forget to actually enjoy the holiday seasons. Chances are good, your family knows that you don't live in a house that's immaculately spotless. And I've noticed that they usually don't care. As my mom always says, "they know we live here."

This one hit me hard because I like things in their place; some call it OCD, others call it organized. But I've had to realize that it doesn't matter if there's a dirty plate on the counter when someone comes over, or if there are shoes by the front door. Nobody really cares. If I focused as much attention on my risen Savior and telling others about Him as I do worrying about what food to prepare or if I cleaned enough, the world would be a much better place. And honestly, I'd enjoy the holidays so much more, because I would remember they're not about me and anything I do anyway.

Lastly, they can be draining emotionally. After you spend all that time thinking and planning on the perfect gift, just for the recipient to open it and not like it? Emotionally draining. I know for me, it makes me feel like all my hard work at picking that gift was for nothing. But that's not the point at all - we have the perfect gift already and that's Jesus Christ, so why are we so wrapped up in finding another one? We will never find another perfect gift, so why do we let others opinions on something that ultimately will be shoved under the bed or into the closet really affect us? Truly, I don't know. Maybe it's just because we're human. Who knows?

There are more things that can be draining about the holidays, ranging from monetary things to relationships. But the point I want to make is that we shouldn't focus on those things, because they will make us miss the true point of Christmas.

Christmas is a reminder that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, came down to Earth for us. He was born of a virgin, God made flesh, for us. He died on the cross for us. He was beaten, cursed, whipped, spit on and nailed to a cross for us. He took all our sin upon Himself so that we could one day be in Heaven with Him. He defeated death once and for all, and became the penalty for our sins. He conquered Hell and paved the way to Heaven. For us. For you and me. For everyone, even though none of us deserve His grace and love.

And if we get so wrapped up in the holidays and trying to perfect every single detail of it, we will miss the most important part of the Christmas season, which is the reminder that Christ died for us and He wants to spend eternity with us.

Don't let the holidays be draining. Don't let the holidays be a distraction.

Let the holidays be a time of celebration for all He has done for you, and you'll truly celebrate and have a joyous holiday season.