How to make Christmas the best of Times – Christian Book Discounters

By Author and Blogger Tim Challies

To mildly mangle Charles Dickens, December is the best of times, and the worst of times.

The best, because in the depths of winter we remember the heights from which the Word came. We marvel at his journey from the heavenly throne room to the Bethlehem manger. We wonder at the truth that the fingers that molded the planets curled round a mother’s finger.

And as we share time, food and gifts with loved ones, we appreciate all that we have been given in this life by the One who pitched his tent among us all those centuries ago.

It is, truly, the best of times.

AND YET…

Yet… Christmas is also the worst of times.

For every delight that Christmas brings, there is also disappointment. Too many families will have an empty chair at the table this Christmas. Too many people will be alone at their table this Christmas. While most cannot wait to get to Christmas, many simply cannot wait to get through Christmas.

But the worst thing about Christmas is how the One at the center of the first Christmas gets pushed to the sidelines. The worst thing about the season is that, so often and so easily, Christ gets missed at Christmas.