There’s only one cause to celebrate, this year

As 2020 draws to a close, there’s hardly cause to welcome 2021 with any sort of joyful anticipation.

Many, suffering ‘lockdown fatigue’ are being more lax about the precautions set in place to stop the spread of Covid 19, and infections are soaring. In a malevolent twist, the virus has taken advantage of this and mutated to a more virulent form. Death, suffering, bereavement and fear are trampling our planet.

Until this year, Christmas, for many, has merely been a prelude to welcoming the New Year. Perhaps God is urging us, now, to focus on the real reason we celebrate, for if we do that, we can look to the future with optimism.

If God can be compassionate enough to come to earth and identify with us to the extent that He feels our pain, shares our joys, demonstrates the true heart of God and then represents us before the Father to take our punishment, He will surely see us through this turbulent time if we will entrust ourselves into His loving, capable hands.

So, let’s celebrate the real Christmas story, and let the Prince of Peace speak into our hearts.

Real Christmas

God gave His Son that all the world
Would have the chance to be with Him.
His glorious presence now was curled
Within the confines of a womb.

His gift to Man took history
And pulled its course away from Hell
Unfathomable mystery
A love that has no parallel.

And now to celebrate His gift
Throughout the world we also give,
With presents for our families
With parties, food and talk of love.

Yet often in this crazy world
We give our gifts, not knowing why
We break the bank to buy the best
We worry it won’t satisfy.

We party with our families
We eat and drink and stay up late
But if in this we exclude Him
There’s nothing left to celebrate.

It all becomes an empty show
That merely gets us deep in debt
And all the feasting and the hype
Can’t heal our pain, nor our regrets.

For though we share our human love
Forget our woes with food and wine
Our loneliness requires a heart
That’s grateful for a love divine.

We need to know a God who cares
Who wants us all to worship Him
To celebrate the way He’s made
To rescue us from all our sin.

If we party, give our gifts
Ignoring Him who’s paid the way
Then ‘Happy Christmas’ is just words
Whose meaning fades with Boxing Day

For always when we celebrate
A God who came to be with us
The next act hovers in the wings
A Saviour hanging from a Cross.

It’s He who rolled away the stone
Conquered death and rose again
Ascended to His heavenly throne
And lives within the hearts of men

It’s not His birth that gives us joy
But why He came — what it was for
That’s why we’re grateful, celebrate
The Baby on a bed of straw