Just sitting here this morning, looking at our Christmas tree, thinking about the weirdness of this whole tradition. People going into fields and cutting down perfectly good trees, bringing them into their homes, knowing full well they won’t be able to keep them alive forever. Just so that we don’t have to drive miles into the country everyday to go back and look at them. because we want one to look at up close - in our own house. because we want to have the spirit of Christmas and the fragrance of evergreen filling in our home. what other time of the year do we do that? - it seems so wasteful.
And while I’m sure there is some historical background and meaning for this practice, what strikes me this morning is how much it is just like Christ. The Father had his own Son cut down just so that we could bring him into into our lives. So that we wouldn’t have to travel to the temple or to the priest to worship everyday. So that we could have Jesus up close and personal, His Spirit filling our hearts and homes.
Sometimes that sacrifice seems so wasteful, because we know full well we cannot keep His Spirit alive forever in these mortal bodies. But Jesus is so much more than these trees. He’s the True Evergreen.
