Here is what you really want for Christmas...

What we celebrate in Christmas is great news for our hearts…

The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it? (Jer. 17:9)

Few of us want to extensively examine the contents of our hearts but the prophet Jeremiah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit over 3000 years ago warned humanity with these words. It is so much easier to believe our intentions are mostly good and if someone was hurt or wounded along the way we could not possibly be responsible.

Outwardly we know how to disguise our thoughts, intents, disgust. We are the masters of disguise. With our smile, our charm and purposeful body language we choreograph a new story. Yet something does not feel right. We have been able to justify our feelings and lay blame at the door of someone or something else, yet there remains an uneasiness deep down inside. At the heart of the matter, there is a problem.

We do need a Savior. We are not good enough on our own. We can’t fix what is broken down deep. We need a new start, a new heart, a new beginning. Enter the baby!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa. 9:6)

Christmas is good news and timely. A good Savior for a bad heart. A Wonderful Counselor for bad decision makers, a Mighty God for mighty big problems, an Everlasting Father for the failures of earthly fathers, a Prince of Peace for divided nations and earthly conflicts. Christmas is for your heart, your home, your world. God clothed Himself in flesh to touch you and be touched by you. In his poetry, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow described how the hatred of mankind meets the Prince of Peace of Christmas:

“And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!” 
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A Child is born at every surrendered heart at the cross of Christ. Newborn, free from sin, wide eyed in wonder and fresh born in spirit. What you really want for Christmas is a new heart.