- Baking cookies
- Singing carols
- Sending cards
- Planning parties
- Buying presents
- Sipped from a glass
But no one demonstrates the Biblical "spirit of Christmas" more than Mary, the mother of Jesus. Consider Mary, this teenage girl who's life is turned upside down as the sovereign plan of God unfolds around her. She never asked for a miraculous, Holy Spirit empowered, virgin conception, but God trusted her with it anyway. Instantly, she's confronted with private and public humiliation. She comes dangerously close to losing the love of her lifetime. Can you imagine what she told her parents?
Yet amidst all chaos and confusion that first Christmas, Mary surrenders her will to the will of the Father and simply says, "Let it be." In other words, I choose to worship and obey the Father even when it doesn't make sense or seem to be working out the way I planned.
The true Spirit of Christmas is surrender. In essence, that's worship. The first time worship is used in the Scriptures is to describe Abraham's decision to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on the mountain altar. It says that he went out of obedience to worship the Lord. Worship is obedience.
Mary, in the same spirit of Abraham, worships the Lord and surrenders her plans, expectations and will to the work of the Father. That's the real spirit of Christmas.
