“Christmas at our house is the best time of year!” It is a time of bright sunlight on glistening snow, of glowing candles, of scrum-dilly-licious treats, of making special things for special people, of peaceful serenity, of excited anticipation, of family reunions and singing and caroling and remembering. For most of us, it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in our pockets, and yet we believe that it has done us good, and will do us good, and we say, ‘God bless it!’

So, what makes Christmas… Christmas?

What makes it, as Charles Dickens wrote, such “a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time” when “men and women seem by one consent to open their hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave…?”

It is Christ that makes Christmas a time of life: of evergreens and holly; the fragrance of an eternal promise, the “earnest” of an abundant life that never ends, even in the midst of  a season of cold and lifelessness.

Christ makes Christmas a time of light: of candles and miniature lights shining out of the darkness from everywhere; millions of little lights that were lit because one Great Light came into the world and lit them.

Christ makes Christmas a time of love: for it is Christ who showed us how to love, and commanded us to love one another; and because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!

Christ makes Christmas a time of joy: of good tidings to all mankind, of a Savior bringing salvation full and free!

Christ makes Christmas a time of peace: of peacefully falling snow, of peace and good will toward men as the grace of God descended to us, blanketing us in His righteousness, making us white and clean and pure!

Christ makes Christmas a time of giving: for God gave us the Greatest Gift, and we have a special opportunity to bring gifts to Him.

Christ makes Christmas a time for family: a time to gather together, feast together, to understand true brotherhood, and unity in Christ.

Christ makes Christmas a time of rejoicing: for ringing the bells of proclamation, a time of praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest!”

Without Christ, the joy of Christmas is a gaping hole of vanity, emotional fatigue, and commercialism. Have you seen Christ this Christmas? May the abundant life be yours through Him!