Rejoice! Rejoice Emmanuel has come to Thee oh Israel!

The other night Bry and I were walking around Meijer and we were both surprised at the looks on people’s faces. They looked tired, grumpy, stressed and even depressed. Bryan finally looked at me and said, “we should just call Christmas off bc look at what it’s doing to people!”

We live in such a crazy world. We take what is suppose to be a fun joyous season and we make it incredibly stressful by cramming it with parties, deals, and food. We have to buy the perfect gifts for our kids so they’re happy on Christmas morning. We have to figure out what we want so we can be happy on Christmas morning (although the reality is we don’t really need anything). We stretch our budgets and our stomachs. We wrack our brains and our checkbooks trying to squeeze out one last idea for a fun tradition and one last dollar thinking all this will finally give me joy, make me satisfied, and bring me peace and contentment.

The song says “Rejoice [Because] Emmanuel has come to Thee of Israel” and now we Gentiles are able to be grafted in to this amazing covenant.

Where is your focus this Christmas season? To what are you looking to bring you joy on Christmas morning? Where will you find peace and security for tomorrow? How would your family and friends answer for you?

To ask it another way: what are you most excited about this Christmas season?

We like to say the ‘reason for the season is Jesus’ but do our actions line up with our words? I’m not saying buying gifts or decorating or anything like that is wrong. I love this time of year, but where is our focus? Are we truly rejoicing that God really did become a man and lived among us 2000 years ago, or are we more excited bc we get a week off of work and we get to eat a lot of good food?

Is it the presents or the Presence that makes us rejoice?

Believer, may the Holy Spirit in His tender mercy remind us of the truth. May He show us our hearts so we can repent, if need be. May He recall God to our minds and our season. May we truly celebrate God’s faithfulness this season and rejoice in the birth of His Son our Savior and Lord.