Decorations That Are Meant to Stay Up

Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them
in the inn.

There is a certain joy in putting up a Christmas tree. The decorations are nice. Actually, decorating a tree used to be done on Christmas Eve and the tree was left up until the first week of January in observance of the twelve days of Christmas. Now commercialism has taken over and Christmas begins before Halloween. Now nothing seems more out of place than a Christmas tree on December 26.

At the first Christmas Luke said Jesus was born and wrapped in swaddling clothes. Gifts were brought to him and visitors came to see him. The ornaments of that first Christmas were a shepherd's staff, a brightly shining star, gifts of the wise men, and angels singing in the heavens. But the shepherds went back to the field and the wise men went back home. Mary and Joseph left Bethlehem eventually returning to Nazareth. Luke says Mary kept all the events in her heart–she pondered them. This brings us to the ornaments that should not be put away–those of the heart. Aside from the physical ornaments of that first Christmas, what really made it special.

The ornament of TRUTH: God adorned that first Christmas with his TRUTH. For centuries the Messiah was expected; on this day it happened–he came. This is not a concept; it is TRUTH–it's real. The wise men sought TRUTH as well as the shepherds. They all found it in the babe of Christmas. We should count ourselves blessed to know TRUTH. Embrace God's word and believe it knowing it is TRUTH. A shrinking number of people believe in the TRUTH of the Bible, God, and His Son, but that TRUTH stayed long after Christmas. It will last forever.

The ornament of GRACE: Truth and GRACE came with Jesus as stated in the gospel of John. Upon His birth we left the dispensation of the law and the age of GRACE began. GRACE is undeserving love. Mary felt so blessed to carry Jesus and that follows us today. We enjoy GRACE everyday; we are loved now and will be tomorrow and every day the rest of our lives.

The ornament of GIVING: At that first Christmas God was GIVING. He was generous. He gave up Jesus by GIVING him to us. He let go of him and let him come. Jesus was not on sale. He paid in full the price and it was not a bargain. God is good; He is GIVING. We see that GIVING each day.

The ornament of HOPE: Jesus is the knot at the end of our rope. We know and have the HOPE of heaven, the HOPE we will see loved ones again. We know through HOPE they are with Jesus. We don't have to put HOPE away after the "season." We can face a new year because HOPE is a PERSON. HOPE is JESUS. HOPE opens doors. Long after Jesus went back to heaven HOPE lingers on.

These are ornaments that are meant to stay up. With them we have the Spirit of Christmas all year long.