Essential Content

I love going to the mailbox this time of year.  Some sort of package is usually waiting, and it’s exciting to see what’s inside. The minor fact that I already know because I’m the one who ordered it doesn’t dim my delight because it’s still fun to see the stuff others are getting and to imagine the smiles on their faces Christmas morning.   

I always check to make sure the right thing arrived, but sometimes to find the product in the packing, I must dig through much stuffing.  The abundance of filling isn’t frustrating because it ensures safe delivery, but I am relieved to discover that what I bought was actually brought.    

What if it wasn’t?  What if inside a beautiful box bursting with bubble wrap there was nothing at all?  Or at best a worthless trinket?  To risk sounding punny, it would leave me feeling empty.

And so does Christmas unless all the tinsel and trimmings, the jolly and jingle, and the giving and getting is packaged around Jesus. To borrow a phrase from last Sunday’s Advent reading, Jesus is the “essential content” of Christmas. Without Him, the day doesn’t exist and the season doesn’t make sense.  But Jesus has come, and even those who try to pretend that His arrival is irrelevant to the revelry can’t mute His majesty.  Every light hung and strung symbolizes the star which showed wise men the way—their glowing beams dim depictions of the bright Light of the World.  Green trees garnished with garland and drooped with decorations give notice to the vibrancy of life sacrificed for the good of others.  The greeting of “Happy Holidays” imprinted on cards and banners comes straight from “Happy Holy-days,” and only the One who wrapped Himself in skin is holy.  And each present unselfishly passed from one hand to another reflects the heart of a God who loved so much He gave.

Christmas is an amazing gift.  Have fun making the box beautiful and the wrappings wonderful, but, most of all, adore and enjoy the Essential Content.