All in all...

We have come a long ways from a manger in a stable on a quiet night, a child's cry ringing out to break the silence.  Stores start gearing up for gift giving in October, or even September.  We make our lists, we drive up our credit card balances, we eat more than we should, all in celebration of an event 2000 years ago that is all but forgotten in the modern fuss we call The Holidays.

I can't help but think this is not what God had in mind.  We have made Christmas about us, instead of about him.  Today, it is more about our gifts to each other than his gift to each of us.  The focus of our attention should always be on God, because he is the center of everything.  But we are drawn to things of the world, the shiny new objects sparkling before our eyes, which pull us down and take attention off what should be the central focal point.

In 1 Corinthians 15:28, we are told,

"When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all."

What does this mean to me in this season of excess?  It is a reminder that all things come from God.  That whatever we do, whatever we have, is less important than God.  And that God is not just our all in all, but IS all in all.

There is a big difference between our and is.  If he is our all in all, belonging to us like a spouse or child or pet or house, he is limited.  When we define him through his relationship with us, he does not have to be everything to everyone.  But God is not defined by human boundaries.  God is infinite, unlimited, unfettered by the chains of sin and failing that hold us back.

If there were no lights, no trees, no presents, no Santa or reindeer or food or parties, the gift God sent is more than enough.  Jesus bought God's grace through the cross, and the meaning of Christmas is wrapped up in that simple place.

God is everything to everyone.  He is the great I Am.  He is All in All.