What Is Christmas All About?ናሙና

What’s Your Reaction?

Welcome to this Bible Plan, where you’ll get to explore what Christmas is all about! Today, things are going to be fun. But tomorrow, things will be super boring. You’ll hardly want to keep reading. Just kidding! This is a Bible Plan all about Christmas—it’s going to be fun every single day!

Let’s start with a question. When you hear the word “Christmas,” what do you think about?

Is it presents? Blankets of snow? Twinkling lights, trees, and tinsel? Or, maybe you thought about a special way to create a version of the very first Christmas with baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph called a nativity scene. Some of those are just so special to look at. And some of them are, um, just plain weird! Watch this video for some hilarious reactions to all kinds of nativity scenes!

Okay, time for today’s Christmas basics. Christmas is celebrated to remember that God sent Jesus to Earth to live as a real-life person, just like you, and ultimately to die for the sins of the whole world.

God chose to allow His Son, Jesus, to be born as a real human. (And as the real Son of God at the same time! It’s okay if that’s hard to understand. It’s one of the greatest mysteries and miracles of God.) But Jesus wasn’t born to a fancy, royal family. Nope. He was born to a carpenter named Joseph and a maiden who was devoted to God, named Mary. They were traveling by donkey when Jesus decided to be born—and not at some five-star resort, either. He was born in a barn because there wasn’t room at the village inns for this tired little family.

It’s so mind-blowing, that artists have been making their own recreations of this event for hundreds of years. There is no nativity scene in a palace. Jesus chose to be born amongst the very poorest. To Him, it was the perfect place to begin His life of love.

Ask yourself: Why did God allow Jesus to be born to a poor family–in a barn? What might God have meant by that?

Challenge yourself: Today, you’ll read part of the story of Jesus’ birth from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. It’s the story of the very first Christmas. Write down anything in that story that seems unexpected for the way the King of Kings “should” be born! (Example: No one was prepared to receive His family with a fancy suite for Him to be born in? Unexpected!)

Pray: God, thank You for giving us Jesus. Your Son lived a perfect life and taught us how to love. He even chose to give up His life for us so that any of us who choose to trust and follow Him can be forgiven of all our sins and wrong choices. Christmas is absolutely amazing! Help me to always remember the good news of Jesus’ birth each and every Christmas. In Jesus’ name, amen.