December: It's the month that makes or breaks the retail industry. It's the month of Christmas specials on TV, twinkling little lights, and fat, hollow Santas lit up in our front yards. Some things about Christmas really confuse me. We put up pine trees in our living rooms and decorate them. We lavish presents on one another and exchange winks about old Saint Nick. Snowmen come to life and sing and dance. All of this to celebrate the birth of the Savior?

The idea of a Christmas list confuses me, too. If they're our loved ones, shouldn't we know them well enough to know what they'd like? And it's not a matter of what they want. Giving and receiving gifts isn't about getting exactly what you want. Gifts are exactly that. They're surprises. They're unexpected joys that show us just how much someone cares about us. Just how much someone knows us. Just how much someone loves us.

The gift of Jesus for example. We were comfortable in our sin and Sunday morning holiness, but God had something better for us. He didn't pick an item off our Christmas list. He found something we really needed. He found something He knew we would grow to like. We were a little confused at first, but each year we make new discoveries and life becomes abundantly more. He gave us Jesus Christ for Christmas.

I think it's this very essence of Christmas that confuses a lot of people. There's a 5-year-old girl from Minnesota named Alison who isn't confused by the essence of Christmas. Here's a Christmas picture she drew. There's Jesus on the cross, dying for the sins of the world--with a huge smile. And watching it all is the virgin Mary, who we're told is sad.

Alison didn't draw Santa. No reindeer. No Christmas tree. No snowman. She drew the one Christmas present we all really need.