“The hour has come for you to wake up…” Rom. 13:11

I was at a luncheon recently when someone asked why we celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25^th, since it was unlikely He was born at this time of the year. Celebrating Christmas in December goes back to the 4^th century when the Roman Church wanted to shift the focus of a winter festival from pagan sun worship to worship of the Son–Immanuel, God with us.

Now that Christmas is past this year, does it appear to you that we may have come full circle in turning Christmas back into a pagan festival once again? True, we don’t worship the ‘sun’, but at the same time we given mostly token worship to the Son. Our festivities might more accurately be described as ‘sum-worship’—a passionate pursuit of large sums of stuff and retail profits. As a nation we have managed to reduce the season to little more than a secular celebration of materialism. It seems easier to accept the idea of a mythological, oversized elf soaring around the world in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer than of the miraculous and humble birth of the Son of God into our world to be our Deliverer.

How did we allow this shift to occur right under our noses? Obviously, it has not happened overnight. Gradually, over the decades, we simply got too occupied with other things to pay much attention. To borrow a phrase from the apostle Paul, “the hour has come for us to wake up from our slumber” and return to what is true and lasting. It’s not too late to recapture the wonder of the Incarnation. But it does require diligence and intentionality on our part if we are to reclaim the hearts and minds of our grandchildren for Christ. It is up to us to help them rediscover the what is truly worth celebrating in the Christian holidays we recognize.

For example, at Christmas we celebrate the amazing truth of Christ’s Advent, but it is also a reminder that He is coming again. While His first coming reveals His love for us that would lead Jesus to the Cross, the promise of His Second Coming is the final fulfillment of the First Coming and why He came in the first place. Paul reminded us that this day of salvation is “nearer now than when we first believed…so let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light”. It may be that our grandchildren may only witness the brilliant light and hope of Christ through us as we live in love, speak the truth, and show Christ to be our all-satisfying delight.

A New Year is upon us. No more useless New Year’s resolutions. It’s time to wake up with a new kind of resolve to leave a legacy that matters—one that makes much of Christ, the Light of the world.

GRANDPAUSE: “Be very careful, then how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16).