The ground is carpeted in snow, the streets are decorated with colourful lights, the stores are attracting a horde of shoppers with their mega promos and sales. Everyone seems caught up in the euphoria of the celebration, the gift exchange, and, of course, the wining and dining. I suppose that’s just what this season calls for. But wait! The season for what? What exactly is this season about?
Last summer I visited my home country to spend some time with my lovely family who I hadn’t seen for about 2 years; (we kept in touch though via phone calls, text messages, Whatsapp, etc). It was truly a worthy visit – my brothers had become men (it turned out that I’m the shortest of the boys even though i’m not the youngest), my cousins had grown up (sadly, some of them didn’t recognize me), and a lot of environmental changes had occurred. As you’d except, fun times fly by super quickly and so did my time during that visit. Well, I had to return to Canada to face life and all that I’d left there. As I packed my luggage, my sweet mother, who deals in provisions (food stuffs and other household accessories), loaded my luggage with some of her supplies and food stuffs she’d bought from a local store. The food stuffs included recipes for some of my favourite native meals. I got back to Canada after spending a few weeks in Nigeria.
About 5 months later (that was around December), I remember this one moment while I was reflecting on the months that had gone by; I noticed that I had spent less on groceries ever since I returned to Canada from visiting home. The reason being that I was sustained by those provisions my mom had supplied me and so I only spent very little on food during that period (and as a result I saved a significant sum of money). Upon realizing this, I voiced out softly – “I thank God for my mom!” You see, those food supplies literally cost me nothing but they cost my mom. Coincidently, it was around that time that I came across a beautiful quote that read, “Grace and salvation cost us nothing but they weren’t cheap. Someone paid the price for them.” (And that person is Jesus Christ.)
To me, this is a season to celebrate “The reason for the season” – Jesus Christ. Without Christ there’ll be no Christmas. It’s a season to recall the greatest gift ever given to mankind – the gift of Christ – from God. And so thanks is befitting to God. In addition, this is a season to be thankful for life, for good health and for the people who have shown us great love.
How about you? What’s the season of Christmas about? And what are you thankful for?
Merry Christmas!! 🙂