If you read her blog, you may have already seen this post by Sarah over at In the Midst of It. I read it a couple days ago and I seriously sat in front of my computer, completely silent, for five minutes.

As Christians, we’ve all heard to “remember the Reason for the season,” and we can become pretty complacent believing that, unlike the rest of the world, we are doing just that. But are we really? Are we really more focused on the wonder of Jesus and His amazing, unfathomable love and saving grace… than we are on all of our favorite aspects of Christmas? Not just the sweet, mushy feelings of baby Jesus in the manger, shepherds and wise men, but on who Jesus is to us personally, today, now.

Sarah said it so much more eloquently than I could ever hope to, so I’ll leave you with these two little bits of what is an amazing post that has caused me to reevaluate my own heart and see Christmas itself through completely new eyes.

And I wonder if, on Christmas evening, I’d still feel that vague, unsettling unrest of soul I usually feel as I look around the spoils of the day and know that I missed something. That I spent the month trying to achieve and accomplish
and attain, and that in the end it’ll all be long gone, anyway. I wonder, if I spent the day in stillness before Him, would Christmas turn into something truly magical? Something satisfying? I think so, but I’m afraid I’ve become too saturated with this world to try it. That alone takes away a lot of the lustre of the gold ribbons and twinkling Christmas village lights, and I realize that somewhere along the way I missed the point. And I wonder, on this December morning, if it’s not too late to start over? Because that would be the best gift I could receive this year. . .

(from a later comment she wrote)

What I mean. . . is that I far too often use all of these things as tangible ways to make myself feel good, feel comforted, “feel” Christmas. And even though many of our Christmas traditions point to Christ, they are not Christ. Only He can fill my soul, and sometimes when I’m surrounded by all the stuff, I have a harder time finding Him. That first Christmas didn’t have anything but Him, and it was the best one ever.

Linked with permission