Celebrate Christmas by giving yourself to Jesus

Most Americans would agree this has been one of the most, if not THE most stressful year for our country and possibly the entire world.

The ongoing political strife worsened this year due to the presidential and congressional elections, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 restrictions that have been in place for about nine months also have kept us from joyfully celebrating any holiday since Valentine’s Day.

Have you realized if Jesus actually was born on Dec. 25, Mary’s travail of pregnancy occurred in the same time frame the COVID-19 restrictions have to date in the U.S.? We know the outcome of Jesus’ birth — the good news about the possibility of salvation for all humankind, the Gospel (more on that). Though the COVID-19 vaccines now are available and the outcome of the election has been resolved except for Georgia’s Senate runoff, I’d bet we actually will not know the nature of what the “perfect storm” of 2020 gave birth to for a long time to come.

We also know, because of COVID-19, many families will celebrate Christmas like they’ve celebrated previous holidays this year as a virtual get-together. I’m sure many of my generation will remember this: Instead of traveling to be together, people will connect like we did in the “olden days” when we stood around the phone taking turns talking to friends and relatives during a three-minute, long-distance telephone call. That was before home computers, cell phones, and even speaker phones, which were invented just within the last 40 years.

Who would’ve thought with air travel, good roads, cheap gas and cars that get good mileage in these modern times that we’d be stuck communicating electronically again to celebrate holidays despite that also being more convenient and less expensive than the three-minute, long-distance call?

We don’t know many things about the future, but because of Jesus’ birth, death, burial and resurrection, we know Christians will survive this world and spend eternity with God where there’ll be no troubles because of the Gospel mentioned earlier (Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-20; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; John 14:1-4; 16:33; 14:27; Revelation 21:1-4; 22:1-5, 12-15). As mentioned earlier, we don’t know the true, long-lasting effects of COVID-19 or the election, but Christians know our salvation is nearer now than ever before, although it still might be in the distant future (Romans 13:11-14; e Peter 3:8-13; Hebrews 9:27-28; 2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Are you ready for Jesus’ second coming so you can enjoy a trouble-free eternity? You can have that assurance simply by showing your love to God in return for the love he showed you in sending Jesus to be born and eventually die for our sins (John 3:16-17; 1 John 5:1-13; Romans 8:9-17; Acts 2:38-39; Galatians 3:26-4:7).

Celebrate Christmas this year by giving your life to Jesus so he can give you the gift of eternal life, if you haven’t already done so (Romans 3:21-26; 6:23, 3-7; 2 Corinthians 9:15)!

Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan who writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected]