Dear Christian friends:

There certainly are wonderful joys and blessings at Christmas when we think of how many people seem to be a little kinder and nicer during the second or third weeks of Christmas. And we wish we could keep that kind of feeling and spirit of Christmas longer. We can if we celebrate Christmas in the right way. Our text gives us some help to do that.


John says, "Make straight the way of the Lord." That means to be honest with God. For celebrating Christmas right you must be honest with God. Nothing false, nothing to hide, no deceit. Come and confess the truth to God about yourself and your life. You can't hide anything from God even if you try.

True you can hide things from people and from your pastor. You can lie to people and deceive and make excuses and often people will not catch you. They will be fooled. But you can't fool God. God knows if you really love Him or not. He knows what you think in your mind and heart.

One time I was teaching a class of deaf children and I told them God could see them all the time, even in the dark. One girl was very surprised to hear that God could see her in the dark. I told her that God even knew what she was thinking in her mind. And she was even more surprised and embarrassed. But that is true.

So make straight the way of the Lord as John cries here. Be honest with God and confess all your sins. Often we deceive ourselves by our lies. If we fail to come to church on a certain Sunday, "We say I was too tired," or "I was too busy." And we believe that lie ourself.

We should be honest and truthful and say, "I don't love God very much. I am a very bad sinner." God will like you more if you are honest and truthful and confess that you do not love Him. He gets very displeased and fed up if we try to make excuses and tell lies. So for a true valuable Christmas be honest with God and truthful. Confess your sins.

Malachi 3:3 says, when Jesus comes He is like a refiner's fire that makes gold pure. As a refinery heats the gold it makes the impure elements rise to the top, so Jesus refines us and purifies us.

He insists that we be honest with Him and come to Him with all of our sins and evil thoughts, confessing them and trusting His great kindness and mercy to forgive us.

We should not feel proud and self-righteous to hide our sins, nor should we feel afraid and give up hope in His mercy. But come to Him again this Christmas and tell Him the truth. He already knows before we tell Him anyway. God knows better than we do ourselves. And then believe that God loves us and gave His Son through the Virgin Mary to be our Savior.

If we are honest with Him and confess our sins and then believe His wonderful words, the words of the angel to the shepherds, "Fear not, etc." then we shall celebrate Christmas in the right way. Christmas will be very precious and satisfying to us and our joy and spirit will last long after Christmas and always as long as we remain honest with God and believe His wonderful words.

Then also will our Christmas activities, our going to church, our exchange of gifts, our feasting and celebrating, these all will please God and satisfy Him.

So today, this afternoon sit down and think about your life. Ask yourself, "Have I been honest with God?" Read the Christmas Gospel in Luke 2:1-21. Ask yourself do I believe that God loves me and forgives me in Jesus? Am I satisfied with my Christmas plans? Will God be pleased and satisfied with me?

We hope this will help you get ready for Christmas.

Amen.