Christmas, is over...or is it?

Christmas is over or is it? For most of us, the tree and decorations have been dismantled, boxed up and put back in the attic or storage for another year. Christmas 2013 is over….or is it? For the Christian should Christmas in a sense ever be “over”? The Christmas holiday is a special time to sing Christmas songs and to celebrate Christ’s birth in a manager. Shouldn’t we consider and remember His birth the rest of the year? This particular Christmas season has caused me to ponder more about that fact that the helpless little baby born in a feeding trough was and is King, Lord, and God. What a privilege and responsibility to be Jesus’ parents. In the various accounts of Jesus’ birth, you cannot help but notice the godly character of both Joseph and Mary. They were both very simple people, not at all rich yet they together raised the Son of God. When you think about earthly kings, they have lavish surroundings and have privileges that common people were not able to access. Think of Moses and the education that he received being the prince of Egypt. Jesus was raised with none of the pomp and prestige of a king (other than the gifts that were presented to him by the magi around his second birthday). When you think of a king’s son, he rarely has to do any menial work. Not so with Jesus. Jesus was trained by his father to be a carpenter. He worked with his hands. He got dirty! I think when he was born During the month of December, I read though Matthew and was reminded that his whole life was characterized by humility. He never looked or even acted as the King of Israel. He was opposed constantly in his ministry and surrounded by men who at times just did not understand Him. At the end of his life, he was betrayed by one of his disciples and was hung unceremoniously on a cross for a crime that he did not commit. In Philippians 2:5-8, Paul writes that Christ took the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. I kept coming back to the fact that He is God, always has been God. From the beginning of time, he was God when everything was created. He was God at His birth in the manger. He was God at His crucifixion willingly being spit upon and nailed to a cross, forsaken by God the Father. He did all this that He might die that we may live if we repent and put our trust in Him. It should change our perspective as we endure trials. Can they compare to what Christ experienced? Never… While holidays like Christmas and Easter provide special times to remember Christ and what he did, we should remember and be an aware of who he is and what he did every day. As we consider these things, it will change the way we live. How do we remember Christ, the God man? Read the Scriptures every day. Read through all the Gospel accounts and consider God who was born in a manger.