Go Beyond

Perhaps the easiest thing for us to do at Christmas is to allow the frantic pace of the season to cause us to lose sight of Jesus. Instead of slowing down enough to see Jesus clearly, we tend to speed up and, as a result, Jesus becomes blurry. And yet, without Jesus there would be no Christmas. He is indeed the reason for the season. Taking time to reflect on why He left heaven and moved in our direction is key to connecting with the real meaning of Christmas.


A few years ago, I received an interesting e-mail at Christmas from my friend Mortuza who lives in Bangladesh. He wrote to tell me a tragic story about a family whose only child had died. Here is an excerpt from Mortuza’s e-mail in his own words:

A parent had a child, and parents arranged great things to having festivals for their only child’s birth day. So many guests and pretty decorated was everything. But, only child went up to the roof. As child was so small and child fall down from the roof and died! Parents and guests were very busy with the festivals. All the activities became valueless. They did not look after their child. Many of us today, we are busy for our selves, to decorating our mental satisfactions. We do not looking after “where Jesus is?” we should look after Him! first.

Like the parents of the little boy who fell to his death, we too can become so distracted by the frantic pace of the season that we lose sight of Jesus. We must, as Mortuza pointed out in his e-mail, look after where Jesus is. We should look after Him first. After all, Jesus is the real treasure of Christmas or, in the words of the Apostle Paul, God’s indescribable gift (2 Cor. 9:15). Without Him “all the activities become valueless.”

I hope you will take time to slow your pace a bit to give yourself some margin to reflect on the wonder of Christmas — that God sent His only Son in our direction to deal with our sinful and broken lives. Determine to not let the gifts and gadgets and festivities cause you to lose sight of Jesus. Look after Him this Christmas. Share His story with others. And share your story about what He means to you.