From 26 December, Christmas is on sale. Literally! Then you can buy Christmas trees, crackers, gift paper and many other products at discounted prices. Christmas music is redundant ‘til this time next year. In the same breath, some people are also done with their idea of a sentimental Christmas-Jesus for the next year. Luckily, everyone who’s ever really encountered Jesus head-on, and whose lives are forever different because of this encounter, can still celebrate Christmas beyond Christmas. We know Jesus is the only reason for our entire life. It’s not just a 25 December experience.
On 26 December, and every day after this, Christians can still bow down in awe before the Child of the Manger, the One who came humbly and quietly to our broken world. He arrived among us without any trumpet blowing. His bed was a simple wooden container from which the animals ate. Still, this Child of the Manger rewrote world history. He has permanently tipped the scales. The scales have now shifted 100% in the favor of God’s grace, because Jesus is God’s living, unrefined grace in action. He’s the heavenly proof that God loves the world unconditionally.
A Christmas life looks different with people who follow Jesus. Yes, his people give gifts to those they love during Christmas time, but they don’t stop there. Beyond 25 December they give something of themselves all year long. To them, Christmas is a 365 days long feast filled with compassion. They continually notice people who don’t have food on their tables, and those who have no one to be good to them. They are full-time gifts from the Lord to those around them.
Merry post-Christmas.
Peace
Stephan Joubert and everyone at echurch
Return from The Christmas life of Jesus followers to the echurch blog
Echurch is an online community of followers of Jesus. But we have a large footprint offline as well. We take the charge to care for those who can't care for themselves very seriously.