“The Wind of Christmas swept over everything and changed it all.”
Here I sit at my desk feeling a bit like Bob Cratchett, except, of course, that he sat at a freezing desk in a dimly lit room, with what light that there was was provided by coal-oil lamps and what little heat was provided from a coal stove. I am sitting at my desk with two lights on, a water heater pumping out heat and an electric back pad supplying heat to my back in my comfy chair while I’m typing on my computer rather than scratching at paper with quill and ink.
However, I do hear the wind whistling at the window (mainly because I keep it up a crack. I like to hear the wind whistle) and there is a snowstorm starting to pound our area, so I draw the comparison and shudder at my plight.
The wind blowing outside my window puts me in mind of a Christmas wind. What is this you may ask? Well, a Christmas wind is one that seems to sweep over the whole land, and nothing and no one can get out of its way, or escape its effects. It's like Christmas. Christmas swept over the whole world, and nothing and no one can escape its effects.
The malls are packed; there is no parking to be found. Customers stand 10 deep around a bargain table, attempting to wrestle away prized goods of worldly delight. This is not Christmas, this is people trying to avoid Christmas. But they can't.
They can no more escape the beauty of God's love for them than the guilty can sleep condemned. They can no more avoid the touch of Grace than they can stop breathing. But, they try. They grab at the world and try to burrow in; they wrap commercial glitz around their hearts to insulate against this Wind. And it's as useful as trying to insulate one’s self with tinsel.
But why would anyone try to avoid Christmas? Especially when everyone seems to enjoy the outward parts? What is it about Christmas that causes this reaction?
Christmas is the touch of the Master's Hand. It is the entry into creation of the Creator. It is a reminder to people that there is more that they have been ignoring. It's the deep end of God's pool, and most people only want to dangle their toes in the shallow end.
The Wind of Christmas swept over everything and changed it all. God entered our world as a baby, for the main purpose of dying for you, and for me. Our sin has piled high, and it stinks to Heaven. So God came to clean it up. Jesus paid the clean up fee on the Cross at Calvary. His death, His spilled Blood paid for the sins that you and I have committed. The Wind blew away all the misconceptions about life and death, wealth and poverty, health and sickness. It blew away the cobwebs we had gathered and placed over our eyes to cover them.
None of these things really mattered anymore. God showed us that all that really mattered was our relationship with Him. You cannot buy your way into Heaven, so the amount of money you have (or don't have) doesn't matter. You don't get in by youth or age, by looks or accomplishments or even by being connected with all the right people.
This, of course, blew away all our notions of what was important. It stripped our sense of accomplishment down to bare bones. It was just us and God. We can't work our way in, we can only surrender. We can only accept Jesus and His sacrifice. We can only submit to Him. A lot of people can't handle that. But you can, I know it!
Feel that wind and listen to its power. The vibration of it flowing around you thrums through you like fine music. It's the sound of the Blood of Jesus. It flows everywhere, washing away the Sin of the world. Accept the Wind, revel in it.
The Christmas Wind.
My buddy Geoff serves with the Hammond Plains Christian Church in Nova Scotia, Canada.