It's Christmas!
How well I remember the gleeful shouts of “It’s Christmas!!” from my boys as they bounded down the hall toward the tree on Christmas morning. Paulette and I spent hours on many a Christmas Eve staging the living room for maximum delight. The brightly wrapped presents were arranged just so and the special presents, the bicycle and the BB gun, were wrapped only in ribbon and bow to enhance the visual impact.
And then on Christmas morning, before we allowed the boys out of their rooms, we would make sure the living room lights were dimmed, the tree lights were twinkling, the candles were all lit, there was a fire in the fireplace, Christmas music was playing in the background, and the aroma of hot chocolate had filled the house.
Then my wife and I would stand back and watch as our sons raced into the living room, eyes popping, jaws dropping, shouts of “Wow!” and “No way!” filled the house. Their delight was tangible. And as the parents who loved them, our delight was to see their delight.
We have a heavenly Parent whose delight is in the sons of men, in us. He staged the first Christmas with stars and angels and music at least in part because he wanted us to be delighted with the gift of his Son. God the Father’s delight is to see us delight in Jesus, in who he really is and what he has done for us.
I am afraid however, that our familiarity with the Christmas story and the many distractions of this season inoculate us against the delight that could be ours. Let me encourage you to set aside a few moments in this season to review and reflect on what the coming of Jesus to the earth has meant to you personally, and then let yourself delight in him like a child on Christmas morning.