A Facebook notification pops up on my screen and I can’t help but sigh when I see that it’s an invite to “A Very Merry Christmas Party.” I absent-mindedly pull out my Christmas to-do list. Another Christmas party means another dish to prepare and maybe a present or two. It means another event to attend in the midst of work and school.

I subconsciously wonder if the people at this party will remember that I brought a half-eaten bag of chips last year and if I can get away with it again.

I begin mentally sorting through December and find myself reflecting on an invitation I seemed to have neglected this year. This Christmas and every Christmas, the Lord invites us to celebrate His birth. I have been building my Christmas to-do list since October, so this concept of celebration is not foreign to me. Yet, I fear I have misunderstood the implications of the celebration of Jesus’ birth. He invites us to rest in the celebration of the fact that a Messiah has come. We are free.

This type of celebration is bigger than any event I could ever plan or attend. This invitation to celebrate doesn’t warrant a long to-do list. It was never meant to welcome stress. Jesus has provided us a time to rest in the knowledge that we have a God who manifested Himself as a human to save mankind. And this is the most stress-relieving thought of all.

Jesus Christ came as a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 5:6, “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.” We have a Savior given to us with authority, and to celebrate is to meditate on this truth.

As we celebrate the Prince of Peace, peace and rest are a natural outcome. The weight of the world is off our shoulders and placed on His. The Lord of all has come to save you. Rest in His invitation to celebrate His birth today. Rest in the thought that He loves you.

And try to rest when you get that next Christmas Party invitation.

– Cassie Stanton
Student Body President
Palm Beach Atlantic Class of 2017