Christmas is For You

Maybe this year the lights are too bright, the carols too cheerful, and the company too crowded. Perhaps this has been a difficult year that left you in no condition to be holly or jolly. It’s possible that the burdens you shoulder have stolen your joy, and the last thing you want to do is celebrate Christmas. This year, Christmas might serve as a painful reminder of what you don’t have instead of the gifts you do have. 

If you can relate, Christmas is still for you. In fact, your pain doesn’t disqualify you from the joy of Christmas. On the contrary, this gives you all the more reason to celebrate the season.

Santa, the trees, and the cheesy movies might be a bit much. You don’t have to participate in any of these parts of the holiday, however, because the core of Christmas does not consist of these components. The very heart of Christmas—what it is truly about—is the birth of Jesus Christ. 

When an angel announced the good news of Jesus’ first coming, he did not share this news with the most prestigious members of society. He did not tell the doctors, lawyers, or politicians. No, this news came first to a group of shepherds. These were ordinary people working a seemingly insignificant job. The good news of Jesus is not only for the high and mighty. It is not only for the people who seem to have their lives together. No, Jesus has always—even at His birth—gone to those who are least suspected, the people forgotten by the world. 

But what was this news the angel told the shepherds? He said, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). 

The news of Jesus coming to earth is good news. It is cause for great joy. And it is for all people. This means, yes, even you! This good news of great joy is for the cancer patient. It is for the parent of an estranged child. It is for the one laden with grief, missing their loved one with every waking moment. It is for the adulterer. It is for the murderer. It is for the one who thinks they are too far gone, that their problem is too much for God to handle, that God has forgotten them. 

God proved that He has not forgotten you. He proved it by becoming a baby, taking on flesh, and living on this broken, sinful earth for 33 years. He proved it by giving His life on the cross, becoming your sinless substitute, so that if you will simply turn to His Son Jesus, you can have life! 

Friend, this Christmas may be painful. We live in a fallen world that makes living difficult. The woes and sins we are beset with are real; there is no denying this. But please, this Christmas, take hold of this good news of great joy. The message of Christmas is for you. Jesus has been born. We need to be saved from our sin, and He is that great Savior. Will you trust in Christ this Christmas?