Advent 24: What do we need for Christmas?

There once were some parents who wanted to buy their daughter the perfect Christmas present and so they bought her a bike which was something that she really needed. Because they cared so much, they invested a huge amount of time and effort into getting a bike that would be perfect just for her.

Christmas morning came and their daughter came downstairs excitedly and unwrapped her beautiful bike.

As she opened the large box that contained the bike, she let out a gasp of delight. She excitedly pulled the bike out of the box before climbing in and spending the rest of the day playing with the wrapping paper. When her parents asked if she wanted to try her new bike outside she said ‘no thank you’ and that she was very happy just playing with the paper.

The girl had a great Christmas doing what she thought was the most fun but her parents were heartbroken as they saw an amazing present that was just what she needed being ignored.

Christmas is about the birth of Christ.

All the other stuff like family, friends, trees, food, presents and even Brussels sprouts are great, but they aren’t the point. We can enjoy all of them but I hope that in doing so that we don’t forget Jesus who is the reason for the season.

If you have been following the Advent reflections each day, I hope that it will have dawned on you that Jesus is just who we all need!

Because Jesus came to deal with our sin, the barrier between us and God is now broken.

Because Jesus came, we have the opportunity to know God now and forever and this really is an amazing opportunity.

It cost Jesus everything to come, the least we can do is remember and celebrate his coming into the world.

Jesus is God’s gift to us, but will we accept him or would we rather just so the equivalent of playing with the paper?

This is the final part of a series of short thoughts for advent to help us to consider the events surrounding the birth of Jesus and to help us to prepare ourselves for Christmas. You can look at the other advent reflections by clicking here.