I’ll keep this brief. It’s Christmas week, and if your calendar is like mine, it’s packed to the brim!

Here’s the question: What difference does Christmas really make?

The merchant will point to the spreadsheet and demonstrate how much their store relies on Christmas sales to generate sufficient profit for their business.

To the restaurant owner, they will highlight all the economic challenges of these volatile days and say that the food service business during holiday time is crucial for their survival.

The student…they will comment on how much they need a break from their studies and, often, their semester finals.

Many would simply say…Christmas is a nice holiday. But if we didn’t have it, we would come up with something to take its place.

There is a phrase written by Ralph Sockman many years ago that has resonated with me:

“The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable.”

Oh, I get it. Theologians might point out that Jesus was in a cave. There probably wasn’t a door, much less a hinge. Okay. But think about what Sockman was saying. Jesus’ birth changed everything!

Sinful man had a path to be reconciled to a holy God…because of Jesus. The birth of Jesus fulfilled the prophecies made hundreds of years earlier…and thereby confirmed God’s faithfulness and the truth of His word.

More importantly for me, Christ’s birth…in that stable in Bethlehem…gave me a way to have my sins forgiven and to receive the hope of heaven.

All of that “hinged” on what happened over two thousand years ago in a stable in Bethlehem.

As you buy and give gifts, as you gather with family and friends around the table to fellowship and eat, and as you take a break from the routine events of life…remember that the greatest gift ever given came from a loving heavenly Father—a gift that changes everything! Truly… God’s best…

Merry Christmas!