Finding Christ in the Symbols of Christmas

Christmas symbolism (from "Meaning of Christmas"):

• The candy cane represents the shepherd's staff.
• Christmas carolers represent the multitude of angels that sang the night Jesus was born.
• Christmas and Advent candles represent the Light that Jesus has brought to the world.
• Holly berries represent the blood Jesus shed for us.
• The Christmas wreath represents the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when he was crucified.
• Christmas bells represent the call to people to worship the Lord.
• Christmas gifts represent the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
• The evergreen tree, "ever" green, points upward and represents eternal life.

Our call every Christmas is worship, remember, and lift up Christ. Our challenge is that our adoration does not get buried in the "stuff" of Christmas. Symbols, properly understood, can help point us toward the real meaning of things, and point us toward the Reason for the Season.

With a week until Christmas, I wish you and your family a Christmas season of good memories and good times with family and friends. And I also hope and wish for you fresh sightings of the Savior, and time to reflect on the arrival of Christ in our lives, past, present and yet to come.

Unto us a child is born. Unto us a Son is given." Isaiah 9:6

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