believe -

Believe -

Have you noticed how much of the Christmas around us is pretend?

Hard working elves and talking snowmen, flying reindeer and a jolly old saint delivering gifts to those who have been “good”?

Perhaps just as exploitable are promises that doing more Pinterest-worthy crafts, acquiring this year’s decorative trends, and buying bigger-brighter-breathtakinger gifts will make this the perfect Christmas.

But they’re all make-believe.

If our grown up selves have outgrown the first list,

have we just slid into believing the second one?

We’re living in a land of make-believe, (and who doesn’t like to imagine and dream?), but I think most of us realize that what our souls crave is something real.

Something or Someone we actually can believe in.

The kind of believing that we’d stake our lives on.

Live our lives from and for.

Our celebration of Christmas would be simpler, deeper, authentic and ironically, based on something nearly unbelievable!

We don’t need to accept that gifts are distributed to the good girls and boys.

It’s us - the mis-behaving ones - who the embodiment of Christmas came to give gifts to.

Inconceivable gifts; like peace in the chaos of living, hope in the middle of delusion, and love that knows who we truly are but loves us still!

And we no longer need to swallow the hook promising that MORE makes Christmas better.

The gift of a Christmas we can believe in came as an innocent babe, and offered Himself to buy us what no credit card, hard work, wishing on a star, or letter to Santa could ever acquire - freedom from a make-believe world of rules and powerless promises.

Christmas was set in motion with a preposterous announcement of an impossible pregnancy.

And the first to believe, shows us the way …

“Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant.

May everything you have said about me come true.”

Luke 1:39

and those who heard and saw her belief said,

“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.”

Luke 1:45

This kind of believing is not, “believe in yourself”, or “believe in goodness”, or “believe things will get better”. There’s no power behind those beliefs because they’re resting on human strength or chance.

But when our belief is based on Someone supernatural and on His character and history, then we’ve got every reason to confidently believe in the impossible!


So what do you need to believe this year?

That God can be trusted?

That He has the power to consummate His word?

That He’s not checking to see if you’ve been naughty or nice?

That He deeply loves you?

Start with a believing acceptance of His words about Himself and you.

“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.”