[Monday's Devotional] - Christmas joy

Christmas is a time when many people are more depressed than usual.  Why is this?  There are high expectations of peace, happiness, and perfect family relationships.  Every year the cost of Christmas rises as people seek to compensate for their human failings by buying bigger and more expensive presents.

On top of this, Christmas comes to Britain in the middle of winter.  Seldom does it match up to the Christmas card image of snow “deep and crisp and even” – more typically we have cold, windy and wet weather, which does little to lift the spirit.  We see little daylight in December and there is even a natty medical term for these winter blues, “SAD” (Seasonal Affective Disorder). 

In this environment it is easy to see how the joy of Christmas can be overlooked.  The bible focuses far more on joy than sadness – the NIV has hundreds of references to ‘joy’ and the word ‘sad’ appears only once (the rich ruler, who was sad because he was couldn’t give up his wealth to follow Jesus).

Christmas is a time where we must remember to be joyful.  Reflect for a moment on the facts.  The birth of Jesus was a happy occasion, the long-awaited and promised Messiah, ‘God with us’, our Saviour.  It set in process the “putting right” of all that is wrong with the world.  It was so significant we set the clocks back to zero.  Now, in 2015 AD, we have every reason to remember with joy the gift of God.   

Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11 [NIV]

I pray that we will remember the Good News of Christmas.

Dave MacLellan
(originally published in 2003)