The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year?

Are you ready for Christmas?

Every year I get asked that question, and my response is usually something like, “not even close.” Why? Because one of my annoying and unfortunate habits is that I’m bad about putting things off until the last minute. I heard someone say once that Baptists believe in justification, regeneration, and procrastination. The only thing I could say in response was, “I resemble that comment.”

But getting back to the initial question: “Are you ready for Christmas?” Isn’t it a shame that this time of the year, when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, usually turns into a mad dash to buy presents for everyone on our list. You’ve probably heard by now about a temporary worker at a Wal-Mart in New York who was trampled to death by frenzied shoppers on Black Friday. And when customers were asked to leave the store after this tragedy, many who were so intent on getting that great after Thanksgiving deal flat-out refused. How’s that for this season of peace on earth and goodwill toward men?

Regrettably, what usually happens is that the first twenty-four days of the month of December turns into one big headache that is followed by a huge sigh of relief when the twenty-fifth finally rolls around. The result of this Christmas rat race is that this holiday has by-and-large turned into a huge celebration of American commerce, and if we’re lucky there just might be a nativity story tagged on at the end. I have a friend who pastors a church in Tallahassee, and he posted this on his blog this week:

This past Monday, my wife and I went to a place called North Pole City in Oklahoma. We love Christmas decorations and this place was the largest Christmas store I have ever seen. Overwhelming is the understatement of the day when it comes to this store. It probably takes about 90 minutes to walk through the whole store and I think we still didn’t see everything.

Something we both noticed…was that nothing in the store was about Christ. Nothing.

Santa, Snowmen, Villages, Rudolph, Penguins, Christmas Trees, you name it..they had it.

When did we get to the point where Christmas was not about Christ?

I don’t know when we got to that point, but I do know one thing: I can honestly and unequivocally say that I am ready for Christmas. I don’t have all of my gifts purchased. I still haven’t mailed out any Christmas cards. We haven’t even put up any Christmas decorations at the Lambert home yet. But none of those things matter, because Christmas isn’t about any of those things.

And that’s why I’m ready for Christmas this year.