12 Days of Christmas 2017 - Day 7: [Guest Post] I Celebrate the Day
When you’re a child, Christmas is the most awesome time of the year (spoiler alert: it’s still the most awesome time of the year for “adult me”, but that’s the kid in me). The prospect of time off from school, the warmth of wood fireplaces and hot chocolate, and the constant mystery of what is in that curiously “calendar-shaped” present under the tree (why do they always give me a calendar?).
As you can imagine – and no doubt experienced for yourselves – it is very hard for a young person to grasp the true meaning of Christmas in their heart. “Yeah, yeah, the Son of God came down as a baby to save us from our sins. Now, lead me to the presents!” I’m sure we’ve all been there. But one Christmas, it was different.
When I was eight years old, I received a music album as a Christmas present from my sister. It was a Christmas album from my favorite band at the time – Relient K. Most of the songs were covers of the usual Christmas carols. But one of the their original songs caught my attention more than the others. It was called “I Celebrate the Day”. In the song, the chorus goes,
And the first timeThat You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior?And the first breath that left Your lipsDid You know that it would change this world forever?
As a young eight-year old, suddenly the importance of Christ’s birth fell upon my heart with a realness and impact that I had never felt before. The idea that the God who created the universe and everything in it – the ultimate expression of power – would come down to us as a small baby – the greatest form of weakness and vulnerability. And the idea that Jesus, even as a baby, no doubt knew in His spirit exactly why and who He was there for. The idea that – from the moment he drew breath as a human – he thought of me. Specifically me.
Christ’s birth was the beginning of a journey – yes, for the world – but also for me to eventually accept Him as my Lord and Savior. For me to be saved and adopted into His family.
And I think the final words of the song explain my feelings at that time best,
And I, I celebrate the dayThat You were born to dieSo I could one day pray for You to save my life
From that day on, Christmas wasn’t about the presents anymore. I couldn’t put it into words at the time, but that was when Christ’s birth became real and meaningful to me. It was when I understood just what He did for me.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and remember the babe in the manger who in His first breath, thought of you.
Drew is an electrical engineer who enjoys writing, filmmaking, and reading. Homeschooled all the way through high school, Drew has operated his blog on and off for several years now with his brothers, at Genius Brothers Blog @ drew-penguin.blogspot.com. Their blog covers everything from life lessons learned, to film projects, to reviews of wholesome movies, music albums, and video games.
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