At 12:01am on November 1st I was on a train and heard Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” playing from someone’s Bluetooth speaker. When her friend asked her what she was doing she yelled, “IT’S OFFICIALLY CHRISTMAS TIME NOW!” Since 1994 this song has become unavoidable. It’s had such staying power that it reached number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2019 (that’s 25 years after its initial release!). Regardless of how you feel about Christmas music in general, if you go out in public at some point in the next 46 days, you’re going to hear it.

Ready or not, Christmas is right around the corner. And it can take a bit of effort to get into the Christmas spirit. I don’t intend to add stress to your life, but for many the first sentence of this paragraph caused the slightest bit of tightness in your chest. Yes, you may feel the pressure of tradition and decorating and perfect gifts and trying to make sure everything is wonderfully joyous. However, having the perfect tree is not what we celebrate at this time of year.

This might feel early for a Christmas related devotional, but my hope is that we can enter the run up to this season with the right perspective. Maybe we can cut off some of the stress before it has a chance to show up. John reminds us of what we celebrate in John 1.

John 1:9-13 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

All I want for Christmas is for you to celebrate the important stuff. Jesus wasn’t born so your house could be impeccably decorated. He came to bring us joy and hope everlasting.