Setting Our Eyes on Jesus This Christmas
By Vivian Bricker
Bible Reading
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” - Hebrews 12:2
Every year after Halloween, I notice that people automatically say it is the start of Christmas. Christmas music starts playing in many stores and some people already begin their Christmas shopping in early November. While I'm all for being prepared ahead of time, what might it look like if we slowed down and truly enjoyed the Christmas season? Instead of rushing it, why don't we take our time and truly embrace the beautiful season of Christmas?
There are many ways we can do this. When I was little, my mom used to purchase an advent calendar every year. Each day, you would open up a door, and it would either have a small gift, a piece of candy, or a Bible verse. The daily ritual of opening up the advent calendar became exciting, and I wondered what my sisters or I would find behind each door.
Something like this could really help you build the Christmas spirit and prolong the holiday. If advent calendars are not really your thing, you can start building the holiday spirit by decorating your home. I encourage you to use biblical decorations or at least one in order to point you back to Jesus. This could be a manger scene or a cross. Each of these things can help you remember the true meaning of Christmas.
It is easy to be detailed by all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas that we forget who Christmas is actually all about: Jesus. Jesus is truly the meaning of the season, yet there are people across the world who still do not know Him. They view Christmas as a materialistic holiday where we spend too much money. What might unbelievers think if we actually started sharing the Gospel once it was the Christmas season?
And in truth, the Christmas season is the perfect opener to the Gospel. After building a friendship with them, we could ask if they know the true meaning of Christmas. When we ask this, we don't need to be proud or accusatory. Instead, we need to be peaceful, meek, and calm. This will help them by being more open to what we have to say.
If they don't know the true meaning of Christmas, we can share the Gospel with them and how the Lord died for our sins (John 3:16-17). Although we cannot ensure they place faith in Jesus, we have laid the framework. We have done all we can do and we can wait on the Holy Spirit’s work. Maybe they won't place faith in Jesus right away, but they might during the upcoming year.
We never need to underestimate the work of God in other people's lives or in our own lives. He is doing amazing things—things we might never know about on this side of Heaven. Therefore, we must trust God and rest in the promise that He truly knows best. He is drawing all people to Him, yet they have to freely place faith in Him because they want to. As believers, all we can do is continue to share the Good News with all people and pray for them to accept the Lord.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
The writer of Hebrews is unknown; however, they write in a very passionate and educational way. Within their writing, we come across the passage about focusing on Jesus: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Through this passage, we are told to fix our eyes on Jesus.
He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. In order to redeem us from our sins and bring joy into our lives, He died on the cross and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Jesus has done so much for us and His love, mercy, and grace is constantly being poured out into our lives. Rather than treating this Christmas as “just another Christmas,” we need to truly focus on Him this Christmas.
We need to look away from the worldly practices of Christmas and set our eyes on Jesus. When we do this, we will truly be able to worship and praise the Lord this Christmas with sincere hearts. Our focus will be on Jesus, not on the things of this world.
Further Reading:
Matthew 1:18-25
Luke 2:1-20
Ephesians 3:20-21
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/SbytovaMN
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