Week 51 - reading notes - The Spirit of Christmas

All season long we talk about "the spirit of Christmas".  There's an excitement in the air, friendliness, generosity.  It's wonderful!


But is it really "the spirit of Christmas"?

I think The Spirit of Christmas is


1.  Service   -  even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)
What a great reminder as we turn our thoughts towards the day of celebrating His birth.  When we serve, we are imitating Christ.  Whether it's being a greeter at church or preparing food for your family or being the one that cleans up after the party....alone...again...."serving" means being of assistance, rendering help.  And the more helpless the recipient to return service to you, all the better!


2.  Humility - Jesus came to serve because He who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, (Phil.2:6,7)  It's not a natural inclination to serve - instead we tend to see ourselves as deserving of being served by others.  It's not natural but it is supernatural - it takes humility.


3.  Light - The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. (Isaiah 9:2)  The Spirit of Christmas is light, light shining in the darkness, light overcoming the darkness.   In Him was life, and the life was the light and the light shines in the darkness....and the darkness did not comprehend it.  (John 1:4,5)  There is darkness everywhere we turn.  Darkness of deeds, darkness of thought, darkness of heart and soul.  Darkness within and darkness without.  But the Spirit of Christmas means that The Light has come to shine in the darkness.  And where there is Light, there is no darkness.  Amen.


4.  Mercy - The Spirit of Christmas means that Jesus came to serve us, out of His humility, bringing Light that ends the darkness.  All because of His great mercy.  He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)  God grant that we, too, because of the great mercy shown to us, would freely give the same in the Spirit of Christmas.


Merry Christmas, friends!