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Here it comes, whether we’re ready or not! We’re immersed right in the middle of the Christmas season. We head out to find the prettiest Christmas tree on the lot (or we pull the “realistic” one out of the box), head home where lights are hung on each branch, old ornaments are dusted off (my favorite being the childhood pictures full of toothless smiles and bad haircuts!), and the star or angel is placed on the very top limb.

I realize that some Christmas trees can also be viewed as a distraction to the true meaning of Christmas. But before you start singing “Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree,” or run around tearing down trees like the Grinch, I wanted to write down a thought about the Christmas tree that can be a reminder for the real reason for the season.

There’s something beautiful about the symbol of the tree that’s expressed throughout the Bible. In Genesis, Adam and Eve were told not to eat from a certain tree in the garden. If you know how the story goes, they both end up eating from the forbidden tree, which was when sin entered the world and the fall happened. What’s so beautiful, is that the very symbol that was tied with the fall of man was used in the story of redemption. Jesus came to earth to be the Savior of the world. To bring forgiveness, redemption, and relationship to you and me. And how did He do this? By dying on the cross, by hanging on that tree, then by being buried, and raised again for you and me!

So this Christmas, whenever you see a tree all decked out in lights and ornaments, I challenge you to view it as a reminder. A reminder of the tree that Jesus hung on, dying for you and me. To step back to see the triangular tree point to Heaven, where our minds and hearts should be during this Christmas season.