about being ready for Christmas

This past Sunday, I was reminded about something.

All morning long, I had been asked myself, and I had been asking different people this question: "Are you ready for Christmas?"

Myself or whomever I had asked would spout off the typical answer of yes, or no, or there were a few more things to buy.

When I heard the message though, I was quickly brought back to what I know to be true, but what is so easily forgotten this time of year...

Christmas is not at all about all that stuff.

Christmas is about one thing:  Jesus.

And when the question, "Are you ready for Christmas?" is posed, that really means, "Are you ready for Jesus to come?"

Long ago, He came on Christmas after many had waited years and years.

Now, we also wait for Jesus to come. He promised before he left that He would come back for us.

And I know I want to be ready when He does.

"I am the beginning," Jesus said, "and the Ending!"

One day, [the apostle John] knew, Heaven would come down and mend God's broken world and make it our true, perfect home once again....

And he knew then that the ending of The Story was going to be so great, it would make all the sadness and tears and everything seem like just a shadow that is chased away by the morning sun.

"I'm on my way," said Jesus. "I'll be there soon!"

John came to the end of his book. But he didn't write "The End." Because, of course, that's how stories finish. (And this one's not over yet.)

So instead, he wrote:  "Come quickly, Jesus!"

Which, perhaps, is really just another way of saying...

To be continued...

-Taken from The Jesus Storybook Bible