Christmas. It's the most wonderful and magical time of the year, but for some it's a time of burnout and stress. Most people don't even take the time to actually celebrate it. To them Christmas is just things added to our to-do list. We never fully appreciate Christmas because all it is presents to buy and events to go to and decorations to put up. Well, C.S. Lewis actually had some pretty interesting thoughts about Christmas, and they don't just involve mundanely shopping for gifts. Christmas wasn't called the most wonderful time of the year for nothing!

1. "Can it really be my duty to buy and receive masses of junk every winter?"

It's not. Yes we should give gifts our friends out of the kindness of our hearts, but it shouldn't just be the focus of our holiday. Christmas is way more than what retailers and advertisements make it out to be. Our hearts should not dwell on the materialistic aspects of Christmas, but they should use these gifts as a method to give and receive love from our friends. Christmas isn't just about the giving and receiving gifts every year, but it should be about preparing our hearts for the joy of our Christ being born to dwell on earth.

2. "Once in our world, a Stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world."

Something seemingly so small, a family huddled in a stable in a inn rejoicing over a tiny baby boy who would one day carry away the sins of the world, carries much meaning. People were unaware of the magnitude of the heavenly kingdom that this small baby boy had brought to the world. It was a joyful time for all who witnessed, so much so that three highly respected wise men gave gifts and worshiped the boy, Jesus. Our response to Christmas should be a time of praise and joy to the One who came to take a sins away.

3. "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God."

C.S. Lewis could not have put it more beautifully. Our Savior came down from glory to bring us with Him. He came so that men would have a place to dwell with Him and their sins would not be counted against them. He came to impute his own righteousness within us in that we might become sons and daughters of our rightful Father. We should learn to love this time of year because it is the time of this year that Our story is fulfilled through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus.

4. "Look for Christ and you will find Him. And with Him, everything else."

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Those who look to Christ will find life and find it abundantly. When the shepherds found Jesus, I imagine they looked upon Him and saw what the prophets had been declaring in the Old Testament. They found the hope of the world and the cure for their sin. They saw the Savior and the kingdom He was going to build. They looked past the smallness of the stable and the found Christ.

So this holiday season lets's look past our endless to-do list and stop seeing Christmas as a time of consumerism and purchasing. Instead, let's fix our eyes on the one who orchestrated our lives. Like C.S. Lewis, we can discover the precious joyful season of Christmas.