Ready for CHRISTmas?

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Here we are again, coming upon another Christmas and another New Year.

To be honest I have given much thought on what to write for this article. 2020 in review? The uncertainties of life? A fragile people and a fragile nation?

I could have written on any of these topics and it would have been fitting. One thing I will say about 2020 is it has brought much clarity in uncertain times.

We now know how fragile we are as a people, as a society and as a nation. We have seen more in a year that has changed the perspectives of people than many had seen in a lifetime. But I choose not to write about these things. Rather I would like to ask a simple question.

Are you ready for CHRISTmas?

Not everyone has the same view point on what being ready for Christmas is. Some feel it’s when the shopping is finished, the decorations have been hung, the meals prepared and the family gathered. But are these the things that really make us ready for Christmas? They can certainly be a part of our Christmas celebration but this is NOT what Christmas is all about.

So I decided the best way to share my view point on Christmas was to share a poem my grandfather, Alva A. Cupp, wrote many years ago.

It’s simply titled “Ready for Christmas”.

Ready for Christmas she said with a sigh.

As she took a last glimpse of the gifts piled high.

Then worriedly set for a moment and read til soon, very soon, she was nodding her head.

Then softly spoke a voice in her dream, ready for Christmas what do you mean?

Ready for Christmas when only last week you wouldn’t acknowledge your friend on the street. Ready for Christmas when only today a beggar lad came and you turned him away, without even a smile to show that you cared.

The little he asked could have been easily spared.

Ready for Christmas when holding a grudge, perhaps you should let God be the judge.

How can the Christ child come and abide in a heart that’s selfish and full of pride?

Ready for Christmas your circles too small, why you’re not ready for Christmas at all.

She awoke with a start and a cry of despair, there’s so little time and I’ve still to prepare.

Oh Lord please forgive me I see what you mean, to be ready is more than a house swept clean.

It’s more than the giving of gifts and a tree, it’s a heart swept clean that He wants to see. A heart swept clean from bitterness and sin. Ready for Christmas means ready for him. ~Alva A. Cupp~

My friend, Christmas should be a joyous occasion spent with family and friends. But the true meaning of Christmas is about a baby born in a manger. The one who was called Emmanuel, which means God is with us.

He came for a purpose! That purpose was to save and redeem us from our sins.

John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)

Friend in my closing today I want to once again ask this question, are you ready for CHRISTmas? If you stood before Him today, would you be ready? Have you accepted him as Lord and savior? This is what Christmas is about. This is the only reason He came. Remember CHRISTmas is not about a gift under a tree, it’s about a gift that died on a tree!

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By Daniel Wright

Your pastor speaks

The writer is the pastor at Freedom Fellowship, 1690 Michigan Ave., Sidney.

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