Season of Reason?

Does anything about this time of year seem reasonable to you? This time of year is known (at least in our culture) as a crazy and expensive time of year and if you look around you, there probably isn't anything reasonable about it. This year, more than most, I seem to be hearing about scaling back or cutting back and getting back to what Christmas really means. One commercial and one TV show that I have seen recently both seem to be trying to give this message.

In the commercial that I am thinking of, you see a few different people celebrating Christmas in extreme, over-the-top ways (having an actual reindeer instead of a fake light up one, creating an expertly designed gingerbread house, super exquisite stockings, etc.) while the voice over talks about how extravagant Christmas has become. Then you proceed to hear about a reasonable Christmas event, the Season of Reason event at your local Acura car dealership. Seriously? Like buying an Acura for Christmas is much more reasonable than a crazy detailed gingerbread house.

The TV show I saw was the Christmas episode of "The Middle" (side note, this is a hilarious show which is more like real life than probably any other sitcom that I have seen) where the parents decided that they needed to scale back on activities and gifts and focus on what really matters. After pitching the idea to the kids and carrying it out, they come out Christmas morning to see that the grandparents had no such intention of scaling back and have filled the living room with tons of presents.

It is hard to get past all of the ads, parties, presents, commercialization, etc. to really make this time of the year reasonable. My hope, though, is that you can take time to look beyond all of the stuff and spend time with your family but mostly I hope that you take time to spend with Jesus. While Christmas largely has become something different than celebrating His birth, the truth is that is why we have Christmas. Jesus coming to earth as a baby changed everything, yet for so many people nothing is different. My encouragement to you is allow the single greatest gift ever, Jesus, to change you this Christmas and for the rest of your life.