The Real Reason

Here's something I came up with a few nights ago. Hope you enjoy it!

Tonight, I watched Charlie Brown Christmas for the millionth time. My favorite scene in it, maybe in any cartoon, is when a frustrated Charlie Brown yells, “Can anybody tell me what Christmas is all about?” Linus, blanket in hand, walks to the center of the stage and reads part of the Christmas story, where the angels share the message to the terrified shepherds.

While most people willing anticipate and get into the season, there are people who are more like Charlie Brown. With all the Christmas cheer around them, they should be happy, but the troubles of life seems to be constant. Unpopular Charlie Brown was rejected by his friends. When so many people constantly remind you that you’re a failure or a “blockhead”, how is a bunch of reindeer, snow, and lights going to make you feel any better?

In the past few years, reality has hit me hard. This year, I was especially reminded of the sad truth. I can hope for things to become better, for problems to be fixed, but that will never solve the problem. Some things don’t happen the way it wish you would. Many people, I’m sure, have had a harder year than I have. Relationships end. People die. Things break. Many tragedies have happened this year. How can we be so happy during Christmas time?

Here’s the truth. The “commercial” Christmas cannot satisfy you. It is not good enough reason to be happy, despite the problems in the world. Santa Claus might make you smile, but inside, you might be hurting. The Christmas the world has made is not effective. None of the things they have made up are real. We can play pretend all we want, but how can unreal things give us a true reason to be happy?

But here is the hope. We have a reason to get into the season. We celebrate it because of a true event, which changed the world. Jesus Christ started it all. He is the reason such joy is spread across the world each year. Unlike Santa Claus and the reindeer, Jesus was a real person. He came to the earth as a baby. After spending so many years in glorious, perfect, sinless Heaven, He came down to this troublesome, sinful place, all for the purpose that we could have a relationship with God. Now that’s something to be happy about!

So where does that leave you? You might not feel up to the Christmas season. You might feel down because of all the sad stories on the news. You might have problems and issues of your own that you can’t imagine being fixed. I’m not going to tell you that Christmas is going to magically make everything all better. By itself, Christmas can’t do that. But here’s the thing. You can celebrate Christmas, and be happy, knowing that Jesus came down to save you. The world is messed up. Still , he came down, fully aware of the pain and rejection He would get.

No matter what has happened to you before Christmas, no matter how many good reasons you have not to be joyful, I challenge you to remember Jesus this season. He has a reason for everything. He is the reason we celebrate Christmas freely this year, despite the problems that are all around us. Knowing the real reason we celebrate Christmas, we can join the triumph of the skies.