Everywhere you turn it seems there is Christmas love in the air. We find love this night in so many different ways. Hugs come from relatives and friends you haven’t seen in long time. Christmas cards express well-wishes for friends and family. Presents are wrapped and put under the tree. Cheerful smiles and kind words express Christmas love.

My Christmas prayer for you this evening is that you will remember why this love abounds at Christmas time. The origin of this love is found in God’s love in the manger. Without God’s love in the manger, all our love expressed at Christmas time would be meaningless. In light of God’s love in the manger, our love for each other flows with such spectacular significance.

Our God loved us so much he sent His one and only Son to a world filled with darkness. In spite of our sins, which filled the world with gloom, God delivered His child to Bethlehem. We never deserved this wonderful gift from God. We deserved an eternity in hell, but God loved us so much.

My prayer is that we are enlightened in this dark world with the message of the angels. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Christ the Lord was born of a virgin and placed in the manger. To understand the lowliness of the manger, we must realize that a manger was a food trough for animals to eat out of. Now compare that to the throne Christ left in heaven. He gave up that throne to be like us.

That humble beginning was only the start. Christ the Lord lived a perfect life in our place. Imagine the Lord of Lord and Kings of Kings placing himself on our level. That is true humility. That humility then led Christ Jesus to the cross of Calvary where the Son of God took our sins upon him and gave up His life for us. That was the greatest example of humility. That was the greatest example of love.

That humility would not last however. Christ Jesus rose in glory and splendor on Easter Sunday. He did not stay in the grave, but came back to life so that we too will live forever in heaven. God’s loved us so much He covered our sins with His Son’s blood and gave us the greatest gift ever – eternal life.

Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have that eternal life. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will enlighten you with this message so that you will believe and receive God’s amazing gift.

As we snuggle close to God’s love this Christmas, let us see God’s love in the manger. It is a crude symbol of the love – the love of our heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. But tonight as these children direct your eyes to God’s love in the manger, may you see God’s love also in the crudest symbol – the cross. For without the cross, the manger would not be so important.

May your prayers this Christmas praise God for His love in the manger and on the cross. May your prayers be filled with thanksgiving for the love of God. Then may you express God’s love to those around you with this message: 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. AMEN.