The Christmas Question: What Do You Really Want?

We love this question, don’t we? Everyone likes gifts. Everyone wants to be thought of. Everyone loves the moment of surprise when they tear into their gift to see what someone who loves them got for them. We love this question, because being asked what we want means that someone may have the capacity or the willingness to fulfill an intense longing that we have.

My guess is you’ve probably been less enamored with material things and stuff you can unwrap over the past few years, and instead focused on more intangible things. I can tell you what I’ve heard. A little while ago I asked some people the Christmas question, and here were a few of their honest answers:

“This Christmas I want stronger family ties.”

“This Christmas I want peace in our country.”

This Christmas I want some good news for a change.”

“This Christmas I want COVID to go away.”

“This Christmas I want a hug.”

“This Christmas I want obedient teenagers.”

This last one may take some miraculous intervention, but do you notice how all of these can’t be put under a tree or purchased? What’s important to us can’t be packaged, bought, or even shopped for. The things we truly want are intangible, and many require large-scale involvement by family and friends, society at large, and especially God.

So, for the sake of the Christmas question, here are three big wants that Christmas itself answers with the coming of Christ.

All I want for Christmas is ____________.

I don’t know about you, but the last few Christmases have been weird. In 2020 it was a challenge to travel or meet with any group of people beyond those we were socially distancing with. That continued on into 2021 even though most of us thought that after a year of waiting and watching, life would recover somehow, and we could get back to our old life. It never happened, so Christmas is again unique. We keep hoping that we’ll turn on the news, read an article or see a post in big-bold letters that somehow states “It’s all over! Life is back to normal!” But that’s probably not going to happen. Maybe the good news we’re searching for isn’t the end of something big, but the start of something big.

When the angels announced to Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would become pregnant and give birth to a child that would prepare the way for the Messiah, Zechariah couldn’t accept this good news that he had been praying for. All He saw was his own old age. Here’s part of the conversation:

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time. Luke 1:18-20

Even when good news comes from God Himself, it’s hard to accept. Even for the best of us, life is hard, short, full of pain, and even depressing. We still have moments of joy, happiness, gratitude, and peace, but if you ask just about anyone, it’s the tough moments of life that stick with you.

This is why we need the good news of God so badly. The angel was just trying to give the good news of an answered prayer to Zechariah and Elizabeth, but maybe they had been conditioned by the world to pray and receive silence that when the good news finally arrived, it was almost unbelievable.

My recommendation: Since we live in a time after the delivery of the best news ever, let’s look to God through our prayers and be ready to receive some good news if it comes. And if it does, celebrate it with your friends, family, and co-workers. Tell your Christian friends how grateful you are that God saw you, heard you, and granted your prayer request. And if it doesn’t happen, be glad and joyful that the ultimate good news — that God loves you enough to show up in-person to a weary world — can never be taken away. Remember the good news has been given to you, rejoice and be glad.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/lucigerma 

Why do people ask for Peace at Christmas time? Why is it one of the most common requests that people ask for in a season dedicated to God? Why not all throughout the year? Probably because most of us have tried to bring peace. We’ve tried with our leaders, we’ve tried ourselves, we’ve asked people to get along - but all of our efforts have been unsuccessful. We try all year long ourselves, and finally, when we get to the end of the year when we want to gather around with our loved ones, friends, and extended family, we just hope and pray people don’t start throwing stuff.

So finally, we turn to the one place that is our only hope of providing it - to God Himself. We’ve tried and failed. Our leaders have tried and failed. Our families have tried and failed. We can have peace for a while, but not indefinitely. We can get along for a moment or meal, but we can’t seem to make room in our hearts and schedules to do it for the long haul. We need to realize, we aren’t met to bring it, we can’t. The prophet Isaiah foretells of the one who would:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Peace would not be brought about by people, but by God Himself. We got ourselves into these messes, but we can’t get ourselves out. This is one of the reasons the wise men, the angels, and all who saw Jesus were overjoyed — with God here, anything truly was possible. Everyone knew that asking for world peace, national peace, societal peace, and even personal peace to come from the hands of people was impossible. We roll our eyes and think “isn’t that a cute wish…” even as we hope deep inside that someone can accomplish it. Think about it this way:

Peace on Earth did not mean peace would come from Earth.

It literally took someone not of this world, to bring peace to this world. And by peace, I don’t mean the absence of all war, death, and suffering; but rather the realization that God is still at work in the world and that ultimately “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11)

So during the holidays, you may not be able to bring peace to the gift unwrapping, the dinner table, or to the conversation — but the ultimate war, the war for our very souls is over. Jesus Christ assured that.

So, family and friends are going to argue over politics, the food, the mask mandates, the vaccines, the gifts they got (or didn’t get), etc. Some family members may not even show up because they’re still mad at you for something that happened years ago. The people on your street may still drive like maniacs. The world isn’t quite as peaceful as we’d like it to be, but you can still live from the peace of God residing in you.

My recommendation: First, when it comes to people, put your relationship with them before your views of them. They may have different political, social, or religious views, but it’s not your job to change them. It’s your job to love them and to be at peace with them as a Christ-follower (Romans 12:8).

Secondly, pray for your enemies, and live from Peace with God. There are going to be some people you don’t get along with and don’t even like. They may even be your family members, co-workers, or friends. Jesus has asked us to be peacemakers and to even have the audacity to pray for the people that wish to do us harm. It’s a radical move to pray for someone you don’t like, but it’s really hard to dislike someone who you’re constantly praying for.

This last one may be a bit surprising, but I think we ultimately don’t want to want anymore. Deep down, we want our deepest desires of belonging, safety, love, security, joy, etc. to be fulfilled so we don’t have to want those things anymore. And this last question is answered by the presence of Christ. When the shepherds were told about the coming Christ, they hurried to see if what they were told was as good as it sounded:

“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

The shepherds had seen all they needed to in the baby who was Christ. In Him was life, light, hope, joy, love, and most of all — God. You could say that the deepest desires and greatest longings of their soul had been out searching even as they tended to their sheep in the lowest plains and the highest mountains. But finally, in a manger, their search was over. Joy itself had a name, and they could see Him and touch Him.

Final Thoughts

Christmas time really isn’t about getting something, it’s about reminding ourselves that we’ve already received the greatest gift in Christ Himself. And while this may seem like a religious platitude or look like something you see on a bumper sticker of an avid churchgoer, it still rings true. Christmas time is the beginning fulfillment of our deepest longings as human beings. We do truly want some good news, we do want peace, and we want our deepest longings — that only God can fulfill — to be realized. Christmas is the story of God bringing the good news, of peace, and of joy to a weary world that so desperately needs God.

So, what do you want for Christmas? Whatever it is, ask for it and receive with gratitude knowing that in Christ, you’ve already been blessed in every way.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Simon Lehmann