I've Put This Post Off Long Enough

i'm still not sure where this post will end up, but i've decided i don't want to sit on it anymore.  sunday evening, my family and i were putting up our christmas decorations in our living room.  we don't really do much, just set up a fake tree, plug in the lights, and put the ornaments on.  we have a few snowmen that we display throughout the living room, and actually have kept our nativity scene set up for a number of years in a row now.  

as we were setting up the tree, i began to sense a connection to this representation of a live tree, and the stripped bare, rugged, cross (tree) that Jesus was crucified on.  1 tree is utilized to celebrate his birth, the other to remind us of his horrible death.  

i allowed those thoughts to stay with me for a few days, revisiting them every few hours or so.  it's possible to take this and completely make up some outrageous point, but i don't really want to complicate this too much.  i just thought it interesting how a tree full of life, decorated with glitz and ornament is used by people of all religious backgrounds the world over during a time that's set aside as "christmas", a time to remember that jesus became flesh as a little baby.  and then there's the cross, stripped bare of life, rough, rugged, full of splinters and pain, very much a common symbol come Easter.  

it's quite possible i'm a little slow, and many of you have thought about the correlation already.  i suppose the takeaway for me, is that it made decorating our house this fall a little more special.  no longer is it a meaningless activity, something to be done after thanksgiving.  no longer will i look at a christmas tree the same way.  it will forever serve as a remembrance for me of what Christ came to do for each of us.  

as you celebrate the christmas season, as you decorate, as you wrap and then open presents, as you walk past that christmas tree many times every day, may you remember all that christ came to do.  may you remember how much he loves you today!  may you remember what a good God he truly is.  and may christmas hold a new, special meaning for you the rest of your days.