CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD

When I was five years old, I knew Christmas was coming when I would hear a specific sound out on the cold, snowy streets. I came from a mining town in northwestern Quebec, Canada, and the extreme weather had everyone putting their cars in garages to be safe. I remember my dad taking my sister and me to the grocery store on a toboggan! As he pulled us back home, we’d happily sit on top of all the food and packages. Meanwhile, Sam Beck delivered milk in glass bottles to everybody’s doorstep. When the cream on top popped off the cardboard cap, my dad added it to his tea or coffee in the morning. Those were different days. Sam had a big wagon and two horses to help with the load, and he put silver bells on them. You could hear them ringing from quite a distance, and, as a five-year-old, I knew that sound meant Christmas was coming.

I’d like to talk to you today about Christmas in the eyes of a child. Doing so helps us better see God’s goodness and recognize His faithfulness in sending His Son. Let's put away our adult eyes and ask for the gift of seeing Christmas through a little one’s eyes. I wrote a song about this on the CD Where Christmas Never Ends. It’s called “Horses and Bells.” It’s the story of how I saw life, people, church, and Christmas when I was five. Here are some of the lyrics:

Horses and bells, horses and bells, meat pies and turkey, wonderful smells, everyone was friendly, all the stories they did tell. I loved to hear the season of the horses and the bells. Have we forgotten simple things with all we have found, replacing toys for joys and peace with so much noise, forgetting all the sounds that Christmas still can bring? The horses with their clip-clop announcing Heaven's King. Before we all could visit, there was one place we'd go. The house just round the corner was God's house. You know we'd learn the gift of God is Jesus Christ our King. This heart of mine was trembling as everyone would sing. I was five and so alive, so happy to be free to know that God, who runs the world, would even think of me. I'd even understand one day the meaning of the tree. The gifts would help my eyes to see Calvary. One day, He'll be returning with many more, as will we. We’ll all be like Him, all the stories we will tell.

Jesus had something specific to say about children in Matthew chapter 18. Verses 1–5 say, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.’”

What a phenomenal statement. Jesus says we have to change. We have to adopt the viewpoint of children so easily lost in adulthood. When we get older, we no longer receive everything by faith. We rationalize. We talk ourselves out of joy and stop seeing wonderment. We go outside and ruminate about politics instead of seeing the birds. Jesus said, if you don't become like a child, you won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven; you will remain outside of God's operation on earth. It doesn't mean you won't go to Heaven, but won’t partake in God’s work here. Heaven becomes visible when we're free from understanding and rationalizing everything.

In Matthew 18:2, Jesus calls a little boy to Him. A child will go where his name is called because he perceives a grownup to be a good person. There is no questioning or analysis. It is so strange how complex we get as adults. We think we are getting smarter, but we’re moving away from God. I see an expectancy in the boy’s eyes. He's saying, “Wow, this is a good man who wants to do good. I'm sure He will bless my life.”

Meanwhile, Jesus watches His disciples argue who will be the greatest in the Kingdom. Like us, they rationalize and reason because they only see problems, not solutions. John 6:5–6 says: “Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?’ But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.” God works through the faith of His people, those who hear, listen, and believe. Jesus knew what He would do because He knew somebody in that audience had faith.

In verse seven, Philip answers him, saying, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” When God asks us to do something, we look in our pockets to see what we've got and then ask our friends. We forget about God. Verses eight and nine: “One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?’”

Jesus knew what He was going to do. All it took was the faith of one small boy, who provided his tiny lunch. When I feel like my life is a bag lunch, I bring it to Jesus daily and say, “We can do this. Take the little I have and multiply it. You can feed people. You can do so much more than I think or ask.” The child in the story enters God’s miraculous Kingdom, where He multiplies things that can't be multiplied and does things that human resources or strength can't do.

Verses 10–14 say: “Then Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.’ Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.’” There's something profound in the child standing and then men sitting down. Sit down and learn something. Jesus takes the little guy's lunch and multiplies it. He feeds at least 10,000 people, and I am sure the boy went home with a shopping bag full of bread and fish in each hand.

My parents didn’t raise us in a Bible-believing Christian home, but I saw something about Jesus's coming that changed people's countenance. Putting up decorations on the tree was exciting. The gifts were lovely, too, but the people had my attention. When we went to our form of church on Christmas Eve, people sang “Silent Night” and the like with fervency! People's hearts and homes opened to one another. They exchanged food, stories, and kind words. Nobody spoke about their problems, just how good the year had been. There was another spirit. I thought, “What about this baby Jesus changes people like this?” I wondered why this magic had to end. After my mother and father became believers, I wrote a song called “Where Christmas Never Ends.”

There is a day when Christmas never ends. Christ returns and brings us home. Every day, everybody's hearts and homes are open. According to the scriptures, we all have mansions. If we eat in Heaven, we’ll eat whatever we want, and it will fall through our opaque bodies. Maybe that is a little silly, but why not? That's Christmas through the eyes of a child. Jesus said, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.” Nothing causes pain in Heaven. There are no more tears or sorrow. What I sensed in my heart as a five-year-old will become a reality.

Something about Christmas as a boy was a drawing of God in my life. I can't explain it other than I knew something about Him. Think about the child who brought Jesus his lunch. He probably didn’t know scripture but sensed Jesus could bless people. Even so young, he knew he could play a part. We adults talk ourselves out of victory like the people of Israel. I encourage you to bring your lunch to Jesus. If you feel like you're small and don't have much to offer, put what you have in the hands of God—just watch. He will bless it in a way you never dreamed was possible.

I was surprised when I first read that a day of God's Kingdom is coming to this earth. Zechariah 14 starts with these words: “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst.” Verse 20 says, “In that day “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar.” Horses and bells! I heard something at five years of age that is true. I heard horses and bells coming down the street, and I knew it was announcing the coming of a King. Oh, my brother, my sister, don't lose the wonderment of Jesus Christ. You can afford to let many things slip through your life, but don't let that one go. Jesus is coming again, and it will be a day when Christmas never ends.