While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
- from Luke 2:6-7

Here’s a Christmas surprise for you: Christmas is for everyone.

The King of all Creation shows up on the scene – at long last! – and yet he’s born into poverty. He doesn’t touch earth in a mountaintop fortress surrounded by gates and guards and walls. He shows up in a manger. He’s weak and helpless and really and truly with us. He isn’t too good for us.

The surprise of Jesus’ birth kickstarts a series of surprises, surprises we’ve been examining together all month in small groups, on Sundays, and here on the Connect Devotional. But the surprise of all surprises is that Christmas is for everyone.

Christmas is for the poor and for the wealthy.
Christmas is for the religious and for the irreverent.
Christmas is for people of every nation, tribe, and language.

When we say that Christmas is for everyone we’re saying that God became human not only for our sake but for the sake of everyone we can see, hear, touch, reach, and imagine. Christ came to connect with all of humanity. He will be rejected by some and despised by others. But he’s distant from no one.

Because Christmas is for everyone, Christmas is for you and for everyone you love. Maybe this past year carried difficulty, frustration and pain for you and your loved ones. It certainly has for us. Nothing you’ve done or left undone can cut you off from Christmas. Christmas is yours if you want it. Jesus is yours if you want him.

Take some time today to connect with this deeply personal truth: Christmas is for you. If you were the only person who ever lived, Jesus still would have come looking for you. How can you celebrate that truth today?