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Are You Ready For Christmas?

Christmas is upon us. For many, this prompts the question, “Are you ready for Christmas?” What a question! How do you answer? And what does the question, and its subsequent answer, mean?    Christmas is celebrated each year on Dec. 25. If the date never changes, why do we question our “readiness” for it? The easy answer may be that we have to be ready for visits with family and friends, shared meals or the exchanging of gifts.    Looking a little deeper, though, are we any more ready for Christmas than Mary or Joseph or the innkeepers or the shepherds were?    Mary and Joseph knew Jesus was coming soon. But the innkeepers hadn’t reserved their finest rooms for the Savior and His birth. The shepherds had still gone out to watch over their flocks. No grand welcoming party celebrated the momentous occasion with lights, presents or special meals.    There were debts to be paid. There was travel congestion. There was rejection. There was a single new star in a vast sky. There was a lowly manger. There was an angel, followed by a host of other angels.    “Are you ready for Christmas?” Joseph could have asked the innkeepers.    “Are you ready for Christmas?” the angel could have asked the shepherds.   “Are you ready for Christmas?” Mary could have asked Joseph.   Generations of prophecies did not prepare the people for Christmas that night. Ready or not, the King of kings was born in the most humble of circumstances. And ready or not, He will come again.    The next time someone asks you, “Are you ready for Christmas?” think about the question a little longer. Are you ready for Him? By Ryan Jensen