Christmas has come to our household!  The trees are up and decorations are out.  I did say trees…as in plural.   We have two, one inside and one outside.  (I’m not counting a couple 4-footers btw).  Since I’m not much of a decorations-man, that sounds like a lot, but really they are no trouble.  I told my wife that putting on the lights was the husband’s job when I was growing up, and since the trees are pre-lighted, they are really no trouble at all!  And now that it is all done, I’m glad that we have the decorations.  It makes the season so much better to have beautiful things around.

Of course, I know that the things that we have are not meaningless decorations.  They are all symbols of something much greater.  Evergreens, lights, gifts, stars and more all have symbolic meaning that point to Jesus in a beautiful way.  Sometimes the meanings are lost, but we try to remember why we put out these symbols, and teach it to our children.

Another way we use symbols in our household is by creating a Jesse Tree.  Each day of the Advent season we have a Scripture reading and a printed ornament that one of the children color.  Each ornament reminds them of the Scripture.  On the first night, we read, Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots.”  We talked about how this prophesies about Jesus coming from the family tree of Jesse, the ornament was colored, and then placed on a tree.  By the end of Christmastime, we will have a tree full of reminders of God’s Word. (That is…if we don’t get behind.  Yesterday, we had to catch up on one night!)

What are the symbols that you put up in your home for Christmas?  I’m sure you have many things with sentimental value.  I also hope that you have decorations with symbolic meaning that reminds you that Jesus is our Messiah.  Share in a comment if you have any special decorations, and why they are important to you.