A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers  

Matthew 2:9, 10, “When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”  Southern Baptist ministers Brian Harbour and James Cox in The Ministers Manual, sharedthe following account, to consider again, Christmas:  When Pope Julius I authorized December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus in A.D. 353, who would have ever thought that it would become what it is today.  When Professor Charles Follen lit candles on the first Christmas tree in America in 1832, who would have ever thought that the decorations would become as elaborate as they are today.  It is a long time since 1832, longer still from 353, and longer still from that dark night brightened by a special star in which Jesus the king was born. Yet, as we approach December 25 again, it gives us yet another opportunity to pause, and in the midst of all the excitement and elaborate decorations and expensive commercialization which surround Christmas today, to consider again the event of Christmas and the person whose birth we celebrate.  Listen, friend, as wonderful as the opportunity to give gifts to those who are a part of our life; to enjoy Christmas dinners, parties, shopping, decorating, Christmas plays and cantatas, and all the trappings that make this time of year special, let us pause and consider, again, Christmas.  Not X-mas, as some would render it.  Not the winter holiday or the celebration of the winter solstice, or one holiday among others where we relish some time off work—but Christmas.  Let us recapture the wonder the Magi beheld when they followed the star to Bethlehem and fell down before a simple manger, a feed trough in a stable, on a cold night, to worship Him who is from everlasting to everlasting—our Creator, Redeemer, Emmanuel, God with us.  This Christmas season, consider again, the gift God gave to mankind so we could eternally be reconciled back to Him.  Let’s make Christmas the day it was intended to be, a day of hope, a day of peace, and a day of redemption— aglorious new day.  

Source:  The Minister’s Manual: 1994, San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1993, p. 254