Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

At Christmastime, with all the shopping and baking and gatherings of family and friends, it's easy to forget the true significance of the holiday. A friend of ours likes to say that we need to keep the main thing the main thing. So let's not forget what the main thing is at this season.

Christmas is the time we set aside specifically to remember and celebrate the coming of God into our world as a human baby, born of a human mother but having no human father. God Himself was His Father. That is astounding enough, but the purpose of His coming boggles the mind. God came into our world as a human so that He could offer Himself as the only sacrifice perfect enough to pay the penalty for our sins. He came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.

Every other religion in the world involves man trying to reach up to God through his own efforts. Christianity alone understands that man can never be good enough to reach up to God. Our only hope lies in His reaching down to us. And that's exactly what He has done. That's the main thing to keep in mind as we celebrate Christmas.

If you have never placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, what better time could there be than right now? All He asks is that we agree with Him that we have fallen short of sinless perfection and are, therefore, unable to earn our way to heaven; that we acknowledge Jesus as the only sacrifice that can pay sin's penalty for us; and that we invite Him to assume His rightful place as the Lord of our lives.

As I close this post, I'd like to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and invite you to listen to my very favorite Christmas song, "How Should A King Come."

How should a King come.

Even a child knows the answer of course,

In a coach of gold with a pure white horse.

In the beautiful city in the prime of the day,

And the trumpets should cry and the crowds make way.

And the flags fly high in the morning sun,

And the people all cheer for the sovereign one.

And everyone knows that's the way that it's done.

That's the way that a King should come.

How should a King come.

Even a commoner understands,

He should come for His treasures,

And His houses and lands.

He should dine upon summer strawberries and milk,

And sleep upon bedclothes of satin and silk.

And high on a hill His castle should glow,

With the lights of the city like jewels below.

And everyone knows that's the way that it's done,

That's the way that a King should come.

How should a King come.

On a star filled night into Bethlehem,

Rode a weary woman and a worried man.

And the only sound in the cobblestone street,

Was the shuffle and the ring of their donkey's feet.

And a King lay hid in a virgin's womb,

And there were no crowds to see Him come.

At last in a barn in a manger of hay,

He came and God incarnate lay.

And the angels cried "Glory glory to God."

Earth was silent so heaven rang!

"Glory glory to God."

Men were dumb so the angels sang,

"Glory glory to God,

Peace on earth good will to men,

Glory glory to God.

Christ is born in Bethlehem."

Glory to God. 

Glory in the Highest. 

Glory to God. 

Glory in the Highest. 

Glory to God!

Words by Carol Owens, music by Jimmy Owens / arr. Tom Fettke