Nehemiah 8:10

New Living Translation

 And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

For Encouragement

My boyhood Christmas days! Boy, what fun! Foggy mornings, chilly nights, campfires, and roasted plantains with salted fish. The legendary Kwaku Ananse folklore filled the nights with laughter and awe.

For Christmas trees, we erected banana or plantain stems decorated with fresh-cut flowers and Oven Fresh Biscuits threaded into a variety of shapes. What fun we had preparing for Christmas!

Church service was more about dressing and seeking attention than worship. Nobody heard what the preacher said about the reason for Christmas. We dressed up to upstage each other with pride. The joy of the occasion became the material things it held for us, not the spiritual.

Boxing Day was for feasting and gift-giving. It was a culinary contest for wives in multi-family dwelling homes. As turkey is to American Thanksgiving Day, so is chicken to Boxing Day in Ghana.

Unfortunately, for some families, Christmas Day reminded them of relatives who had died since last Christmas, and they mourned them.  What was supposed to be a joyful day has turned into mourning the dead. It reminds me of the day Ezra, the priest, read the Law to the Israelites after dedicating the Jerusalem wall (Neh. 8:1-12). The people wept as they listened to the reading of the Law (v.9). Their tears were of a different kind. It almost ruined the festive atmosphere of the day.

Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength, Nehemiah said (Neh. 8:9-10).

Likewise, Christmas is a day of joy. The joy of Immanuel—God with us— and we must set aside  our painful memories. We must read the written story of Christ’s birth, meditate on His person and sacrifice to redeem us. The child in the manger is no ordinary child. He is your Creator, Savior, and Lord.

When the moon and stars decorate the night skies, reflect on their Maker, and of course, the entire universe. See Him who came into our pitiful world to redeem His own. Christmas becomes meaningful and joyful when we ponder these things.

As you celebrate Christmas this year, let the joy of the Lord be your strength for the coming year. Give every terrible memory to the Lord and share the Christmas story with those who may not know the Godchild as Savior and Lord.

Pray with Me

Father, thank you for the joy you sent us on Christ’s birth. Help us with a deeper meaning of the baby Jesus in the manger, surrounded by the bleating sheep, the shepherds with the angels and their joyful singing to herald the Savior’s birth and the visit of Magi and the gifts they brought to worship the King of Kings. We ask all these in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer. Amen!