What is better than being with the one you love?

I’d say nothing. There is nothing that can be traded that is equal in value to being with the one that you love. No amount of money can replace a deeply loving relationship. No promise of health, wealth or fame will fill the longing in one’s heart. To love and be loved, there is no greater thing. There just is no substitute.

The absence of the one that we love makes us forlorn and lonely. Our hearts exist in a state of agony until we are with them again. The anxiety of seeing their face or just hearing their voice sometimes is just too much to bear. But what a great joy we are filled with when our desire is made complete. The excitement is uncontainable. The joy is un-restrainable and unbridled happiness is our sweet reward. The laughter, the tears, the shouts of joy will ring out when the one you love comes near. Your happiness and joy are on display to the whole world and you don’t care who knows it. In this season of the year we hold out hope and dream for these kind of blessed reunions. Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

Christmas is a celebration of the reunion of God and man. It is not about the dude in the red suit, elves, snow men, reindeer and the like. All of those symbols of the season can bring us joy but not like Immanuel does. The Christmas season is not about getting a great deal on TV’s, video games, decorations and everything else. Retailers swear that they are giving you the best values but do they value you? Not like Immanuel does. Christmas is not about cookies, cakes and pies and all the other goodies that fill us up. After all the feasting is done I suspect that you will be heading back to the fridge for one more bite. Christmas is about Immanuel, “the bread of life”, who promises that He will fill our hungry souls.

Christmas is about celebrating the God who came near. He didn’t offer things that perish, spoil or fade but rather the gift of His abiding presence. He is Immanuel, God with us. He gave us himself and a plan to redeem us from all the Black Fridays, Mournful Mondays and regretful January credit card statements. He gave us something far more important, a piece of Himself. Christmas is about the blessed reunion of God and man. Christmas is about living in the knowledge of how much God really loves us. Christmas is about celebrating the God who came near. It is His nearness that astounds me.
Just think. God asked Himself the same question that we began with. What is better than being with the one you love? And after kicking it around a bit He, the all-powerful God, came from an immaculate place in heaven filled with glorious light to be incarnated as a helpless human babe in a dark, musty stable. He traded endless perfection and bore the cross and all its pain by putting on a decaying body to bring us comfort and joy. Do you see how much He loves us? This is the trade He made to be near to us. This is what it cost for us to be reunited with Him. There just was no substitute.

Peace and Blessings