The real reason for the season

Christmas is over at our house. There are no more holiday parties to go to. No more family gatherings to attend. No more presents to open. The holiday treats have all been eaten and what was left over went out in the trash today. The tree has been taken to a recycling center and the decorations all put away into their plastic totes. Today was spent attempting to find places for all the new things that we have. Deep Breathe taken. I will be glad to get life back to our definition of functionally normal.

As I have chatted with people this week about their holidays what I hear in their voice is the holiday "let down." The family gathering did not go well. Someone threw up, someone else had a fight with another someone else and on and on the list of disappointments goes. To top it all off, despite the obscene amount of money spent, there is a lingering sense that they did not receive what they thought they wanted. If they did, the newness is already wearing off and it will not bring them the joy or fulfillment they thought it should have. The reason for this is simple. Nothing fills us and nothing will make us whole outside of Christ. No relationship can do it, no amount of money can do, no amount of toys can do it. Christ alone fills the void within us and make us complete. This is the real reason why Jesus is the Reason for the Season.