It’s that time of year…again.
For many—maybe most—it’s the season for trimming trees, swapping gifts, indulging in festive foods, watching bowl games and revisiting the nostalgic cartoons of our childhood.
You can almost hear the soundtrack playing in the background:
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go
Take a look at the five and ten, it’s glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes that glow
What’s not to like, right?
Well…as Charlie Brown once confessed to Linus, sometimes the “holiday spirit” isn’t as automatic as the songs suggest. In fact, it’s no secret that rates of depression rise during the very season when everyone seems to be insisting that you “be of good cheer.”
Because the truth is: a pristine tree, a clever sweater, a glazed ham or a winning team can only carry you so far.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in every store
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
On your own front door
And somewhere in the middle of all this seasonal sparkle, the central story of Christmas—a two-thousand-year-old announcement of a Savior born in a humble stable—can get buried beneath the noise or, worse, reduced to a sentimental footnote.
So here’s the question that’s been pressing on me:
What would my response be—what would our response be—if the Grinch really did take away all of the props?
If the decorations, the gifts, the comfort, even the stability of daily life were stripped away…would I still find joy? Would I still find strength in God amid material lack, economic uncertainty, or personal loss? Could I trust that my hope is ultimately in Him, not in my circumstances?
Habakkuk wrestled with that same question:
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines…
yet I will rejoice in the Lord. (Habakkuk 3:17)
It’s a sobering thought—a of “oh, oh, oh…or no, no, no” kind of moment.
My prayer this season is simple: that my eyes see and my heart reflects the real meaning of Christmas, the one that doesn’t depend on tinsel, tradition or how well life is currently going.
Because long before carols and candy canes, there was this announcement to a group of night-shift shepherds—people on the very bottom rung of society:
“Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
And then a heavenly chorus:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
That’s what Christmas looks like.
And it’s still good news—no matter what the season around us holds.
Categories: Acts17seventeen Christian Christianity Follower Of Jesus God's time
Pastor Mark
Mark, the eighth of nine children born to Reuben and Henrietta Meeks—dedicated church planters with nearly 30 congregations established across California’s Central Valley—is a preacher's kid who grew up immersed in faith and service. With over forty years of experience teaching, discipling, and ministering to communities, including the hospitalized and incarcerated, Mark responded to God's call to pastoral ministry. He holds degrees in civil engineering and public administration, as well as a Master’s in Theology from Fuller Seminary, equipping him to serve with both practical insight and spiritual depth.
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