I LOVE Christmas!

I love the presents and the parties, the time spent with family and friends, the fun and the feasting, and the joy of giving and receiving.

But is it just me getting older or does the Christmas season get longer and longer each year as we start our preparations earlier and earlier?

For years we’ve been used to the shops getting us to buy our Christmas presents in September, but this year I particularly noticed that some people are putting up their trees and decorations before we even get into December.

There was a bit of debate on Facebook recently between my wife and some of her friends as to when the decorations should go up and come down.

There was no consensus but the move was definitely towards starting Christmas earlier.

When I was a child, the Christmas tree didn’t go up until Christmas Eve and then came down on Twelfth Night and not a day earlier or a day later.

I was taught to wait for Christmas.

The waiting added to the expectancy and sense of excitement as Christmas approached.

As Christians we believe in waiting.

That’s what Advent is.

A time of waiting and preparing - waiting for the arrival of God; preparing for His royal appearance.

In the run up to Christmas, along with the mad rush of getting the presents bought, the turkey ordered and the house decorated, we also need to take time to prepare for someone else other than our own family to arrive – the arrival into our world of the God of Love Himself.

Coming as a baby in squalor, living a sacrificial life of love and acceptance, dying a horrible death as Saviour and rising again from death as Victor, He’s certainly worth waiting for.

The well-known carol says: “Let every heart prepare Him room”.

Have a very happy Christmas!

But please remember that the happiest Christmas you will have is if you take time to make room for the God of Love in your Christmas.