Not a lot of holidays are celebrated practically worldwide.  Christmas is one of those few holidays that is. The odd thing is, although so many millions around the world celebrate Christmas, the reason or the way they celebrate varies.  How could one holiday, celebrated by so many, mean something different and be celebrated in so many different ways?  Of course, one of the most common themes of Christmas is presents, but that wasn’t always the case.  Christmas wasn’t always about presents.  Who can say when the shift happened, when presents came to the forefront and became the focus of Christmas. 

 If you asked people what the first Christmas was about, some would answer with reverence, some grudgingly, or others even with a sneer but the answers probably would not all be about “presents.”  Instead, the answers would be about an event, the advent, or coming of Someone.  Somewhere along the line Christmas became misunderstood. 

The misunderstanding about Christmas is that it is not about presents, it’s about Presence. 

For thousands of years the coming of Christ was written about, talked about and waited for, and then He came, the long-awaited event happened.  His presence came to be here with us, “God is with us… Emmanuel.”  But maybe the greatest thing is, He also left His presence for us.  Jesus said he wouldn’t leave us alone, that He wouldn’t leave us stranded like orphaned children. 

Listen to what Jesus said:

And I will ask of my Father, and he will give you another Comforter, to be with you forever – John 14:16.

This is His presence with us, to comfort, help and guide us, something that all of us need.  God’s presence is for all people, no matter who you are or what you’ve done or even what you’re doing now.  God’s presence is for you if you can believe enough to ask Him for it.

For some, Christmas can be a time of sadness, loneliness and sorrow, maybe even bitterness.  For some, we’re concerned about the family gathering, will there be those fights again.  Will they starting drinking and then start trouble.  Will it all be a repeat of last year, and the year before that.

But what if you asked God for His presence to come to you and your house and all those gathering there.  Wouldn’t that make a difference?  Wouldn’t the presence of God bring peace among your family, your friends?  And the ones who are lonely, maybe even angry and bitter, wouldn’t the comfort of His presence be a nice change this Christmas?

We can’t change other people or how they celebrate Christmas but, we can ask God for His presence, to send His Comforter to us and our house and to everyone who comes to our house.  We can at least start there, with His presence in our own lives and who knows, maybe that will affect the others that will be with us.

We could even invite people to our house who need His presence most.  Surely, most of us all know people who are having a hard time this Christmas.  Wouldn’t it be nice if they came to your house and were impacted by God’s presence there, just because you invited God’s presence to come?

Why not receive the gift of God’s presence this Christmas.

C.L.F