Last year during the Advent season, I helped put up three Christmas trees. The first Christmas tree was a real one. There were a couple of holes in it. It was not a very pretty tree. A group of ladies put the lights on it, so it covered the big holes. We than decorated the tree with Crismons (Christ monograms), the ladies and children of the church had made these ornaments with love. The tree was transformed, it looked 110 percent better.

The other two trees were not real. I put together one tree, and tried to get the branches to look just right. As I stepped away from it, some branches did not look like they were in the correct places. And then a friend helped put the lights on it, the tree began to look better. The tree began to look better as it was decorated with many different ornaments. And it finally looked like a Christmas tree.

The third tree went up, the branches were all bent as I stuffed the tree in the box the previous year. This one already had lights on it. There were many open spaces on this tree. It was a sad looking tree, and it didn’t have any ornaments on it.

The first two trees I mentioned went through a total transformation as the lights and the ornaments decorated the tree. As I thought about this transformation, we too have gone through a transformation because of Jesus Christ being born. This is the greatest gift God has given us to transform our lives. Nothing else will transform our lives, not money, a promotion, being popular, a new house, a new job, and material things, etc. Jesus Christ is the only person who will transform our lives, communities and world.

Jesus came so we could help build the Kingdom of God in our world. With Jesus we can fill our world with love rather than hate, with forgiveness rather than resentment, with truth rather than falsehood, with compassion rather than cold indifference.

Jesus entered our world of hate, so that we might build a world of love.

Jesus reached out to us so that we might reach out to others. Jesus understands us, even when we don’t understand ourselves. Jesus is always with us, even though we are not always aware of his presence.

This is the message of Christmas, Jesus became Immanuel, God with us. The real gift of this Advent season is when we open our hearts and wait for the coming of the Lord to us.

As you find yourself waiting this Advent; waiting in line, waiting for preparations to be done, waiting in the store, waiting in traffic, allow this prayer to come to your heart: Lord, as I find myself waiting once again, may I wait upon you for the gift of meaning in my life.

My prayer for you this Advent is may you be transformed by Christ’s presence in your life.

Happy Advent and merry Christmas!