Each year around the beginning of December, we rearrange the furniture in our living room to make room for our Christmas tree. Although we use an artificial tree at the church building since it is easy to maintain, at home, we always have a live tree. We prefer a live tree because of the atmosphere it imbues to the room and also because of the fragrance that it emits.
However, in order to keep the tree fresh, when we are ready to bring It in, we cut off a portion of the bottom of the trunk so that we have open cells that can readily absorb water.
Then, when we put the tree in the stand, we make sure the bottom is Immersed in water to which we have added a preservative. By ensuring that the bottom of the trunk is always immersed in the solution, we don't have needles falling to the carpet within a few days of putting the tree up. The next step is the decorating with lights, ornaments and icicles. Then, in the Days before Christmas, the presents, in their colourful wrappings, ribbons and bows begin to appear, adding the final touch.
The Christmas tree and its lights represent Christ and the light that He has brought into the world [John 1:2]. The presents under the Christ tree do not have a physical dimension, for they are purely spiritual.
These presents are the presents of love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness and goodness. The wrappings are not separate from the presents — paper to be torn open and discarded. Rather the wrappings are the presents themselves, for they are all wrapped in the light of God's love for each one of us.
We buy presents for a particular individual and God has bought us presents that are specifically intended for our particular needs. Do we need more peace in our lives? That gift will be larger than the other gifts. Do we need more joy? That gift will be the first one that we open. Also, these gifts do not have a dollar value and they can't be returned. They have been bought with Christ's death and since they are custom made, they can't be returned.
Have we rearranged the furniture in the living rooms of our spiritual homes for the Christmas tree that is Christ? If we want our physical tree to stay fresh, then we make sure the trunk is always immersed in preservative. Is our spiritual Christmas tree fresh because we always keep it immersed in the spiritual preservative of prayer, worship and God's Word?