Do You Want To Be Beautiful This Christmas?

As we approach Christmas, I am hearing so many stories of schools, people and organisations that have banned the word Christmas! It is now holiday parties and holiday cards! Jesus is being officially removed from celebrations at Christmas time. Even churches and Christians seemed to be losing confidence in their Saviour. Some make him out to be little more than a loving person who shows us a good way to live. A sweet baby, meek and mild, who lived a long time ago but still inspires us be nicer to each other. If that is all Jesus is then I too want to take him out of Christmas,  because frankly the food and presents are a better deal!

 

The Bible however reveals Jesus as someone very, very different. I, for one, have seen Him at work today in a different way. I remember talking to a man who had been addicted to drugs describing how Jesus had delivered him from drugs and how he was now 'beautiful'. The man quoted this verse from Isaiah 61:3 about Jesus; that he came “to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes” In truth his clothes did not look beautiful but his eyes were and the Bible says they are the window to our soul.

 

But ‘Jesus is not just for Christmas - he is for life.’ He is not just for special dramatic or very difficult occasions or just for drug addicts. He came at Christmas for us all, to save us from eternal separation from God. Isaiah 61:10 says “For he has clothed me with garments of salvation” Now that’s the kind of beautiful clothes I want for Christmas - you don’t get that from 'holiday time'!

 

I am not sure if you have every flown over the Nile Delta in Egypt, but where the water flows there is green in the desert. This is such a great picture of what happens when Jesus' salvation takes centre place in our lives. Isaiah 61:11 puts it like this  “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” Is Jesus an optional part of your Christmas or is He the centre?  The truth may lie in the current beauty of our souls!