Read John 1:1-18

I don’t know about anyone else but I am a complete Scrooge before Thanksgiving. It is a massive pet peeve of mine when Christmas decorations are thrown out in WalMart weeks before Thanksgiving even happens. I admit and recognize that this is a personal opinion of mine but it is one that I strongly hold to. I will happily bring the Christmas decorations up from the garage and listen to Christmas music while drinking eggnog as soon as the day after Thanksgiving, but, before that, it’s all about focusing on being thankful for the things that God has blessed us with.

We live in a world that is all about the physical and emotional benefits of Christmas. If you’ll allow me to use some “young people language”, it’s all about the vibe. It’s all about the feeling that Christmas provides and the gifts that you receive. It’s funny that we, as a society, focus more on the three wisemen and the gifts that they brought Jesus rather than the fact that Jesus was born in the first place.

I’ll admit that I love some good Christmas lights and the awe that Mattie, who is 3 as of this writing, showed when we were setting up our tree and his wide eyes when the lights got turned on.

However, we should never forget the true reason for the season.

For the next week, we are going to be reminding ourselves of the significance of Jesus coming to earth. THAT is the reason for the season.

Personally, I love John 1 and its description of Jesus coming to earth.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

In the first four verses we read about the Word being with God and being God. Take away from these verses that the Word = God. And now for the inspiration of this week’s series in verse 14:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

THIS is why we celebrate Christmas. Not because of the gifts that we receive and the vibe the season brings us. We celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus and the gift to humanity that His birth brought about.

For the next 6 days, we are going to be reading about events surrounding the birth of Jesus and the act of the Word becoming flesh. It is our prayer here at EverydaywithGod that you will be encouraged this week by focusing on the birth of Jesus as the reason for the season.

Jake Lawson