I bet you can’t wait for all your Christmas celebrations! For some it will be very lonely. Perhaps a loved one has passed away this past year and in some ways you are not looking forward to the holiday. Perhaps travel and schedules will not permit you to be with family or family will not be able to be with you.

For some Christmas plans will be a very full, well planned, and executed holiday time very much like a flawless Christmas Concert.

For some Christmas celebrations will be a nightmare. If both your parents are alive and able to host family, you stressfully have to figure out where you eat meals and when you open your presents. If you are part of a blended family you have learned how to travel with a spread sheet and a timer to know where to go and how long to spend there.

And, let’s not forget those family situations stained with addictions of some kind. Are there times when it is best to say NO and not participate in a family gathering? Or, at least limit your participation in a family time. Unfortunately in all of this we lose the joy of Christmas and feel the full weight of guilt and stress.

So what can we do?

How can we think biblically about Christmas and Christmas Celebrations?

Does the Scripture offer us any direction on how to make the most of the Christmas season?

Not really, but it does offer us a principle that I would like to apply to this topic.

Ephesians 5:15-16 and Colossians 4:5 exhort us to redeem the time or make the most of every opportunity.

So how can we redeem the Christmas holiday and make the most of it? Permit me to suggest that we make the most of this Christmas holiday by staying focused on Christ.

Focus on Him as the incarnate Son of God. Focus on Christ by proclaiming His gift of salvation. Focus on Christ by modeling Him in all your Christmas gatherings. The encouragement of this focus is an attempt to apply the biblical command in Ephesians 5:15-16 “to redeem the time” and the command in Colossians 4:5 “to make the most of every opportunity” with all the Christmas opportunities before us this in the coming weeks.

I wish all of you a very Christ-centered Merry Christmas.