It's my favorite time of year - Christmas!  Besides the obvious reasons that I love this season, I always take time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.  That God, the creator, would come to the Earth in the person of Jesus Christ, is still something that fills me with wonder and gratitude.  I always think of the reason He came.  To make a way for you and me to one day return to the place where it all began and live eternally with Him.

Whenever I think about this, I am reminded that we are all on a journey now.  The journey of our lives.  As with any journey, we all have to make preparations for our destination.  Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is choosing where to go.  Our family found this to be true in trying to plan a simple family reunion.  With over 40 people involved, it was hard finding a venue that everyone could agree on - a cruise won out.  Then we had to decide which cruise to take.  Emails floated back and forth as we discussed price ranges, length of the cruise, cruise ships, schedules and finally choosing a date.  And that's where we got stuck.  We never could find a date that would work for all of us.  Despite all our preparation, it was that one detail that we could never settle and so we never even left the shore.  I wonder what adventures we missed, what fun times were lost, what memories were never made.

Our jouney here on Earth is already settled.  We will live and then we will die.  But for many of us one detail still remains - what is my destination?  Where will I end up after I die?  What preparation have I made while here on Earth to spend eternity with God?  Have I accepted the free ticket, the free gift offered through Jesus Christ?  And if not, what adventures will I miss, what fun times will be lost and what memories with God will never be made because I choose to live apart from Him eternally?

These are sobering questions for such a joyous time of year.  But it is the reason Jesus came.  It wasn't for the Christmas lights or the Christmas tree.  It wasn't for the presents and the delicious food.  It wasn't for all the things that remind us of Christmas.  He came because of me and you.

This Christmas as you celebrate an event that occurred over two thousand years ago - the birth of Christ, the Messiah; choose to remember the reason for the season.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son.  That whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."    (John 3:16)

From my family to yours ~ may your destination be sure!  Merry Christmas!