Christmas is a few days away. Many of us are busy preparing for it. We are busy stressing ourselves and others about all things Christmas. However, we need to take a step back and ask ourselves whether we are focusing on the right stuffs.

Some of us are busy travelling or shopping using the money we have managed to save during the year. How much of the money spent or the stress generated is about Jesus Christ whose birthday we are celebrating? How much time are we spending to spread the message of salvation which caused the Messiah and Savior of the world to come and live in the flesh among mankind?

In the opening words of her famous Magnificat, Mary, the mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, said, “My soul magnifies the Lord….” (Luke 1:46, ESV). Mary was excited and grateful that the Almighty God was using her as a conduit to bless the world by bringing His only begotten Son into the world to save mankind.

As Christians, we should also magnify the Lord. We should make our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bigger, larger, stronger, more important, and more powerful than anyone and anything else in this world. We are to make his presence and power felt in our spheres of influence and beyond. We should honor and hold Jesus in the highest esteem, as a testimony to others, so that all may know that “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11, NIV).

In magnifying the Lord, we should remember that we are Christ’s ambassadors as though God were making His appeal of reconciliation through us (2 Corinthians 5:20). As ambassadors of Christ, we are empowered to represent him on this earth and project his image and message. We do not carry out our mission as we please, but in accordance with his will as revealed in the Bible and inspired by the Holy Spirit.

If, for example, you are a Christian, but your extended family, friends, school mates or co-workers do not know about it, it is probably because you do not adequately magnify the Lord. It is good to keep secrets where appropriate, but keeping Christ and your Christianity secret in an open, democratic society does not advance the cause of the Kingdom. Christianity would not have advanced to this level if the early Christians and pioneers had been secret or closet Christians. Jesus reminds us that no one lights a lamp and hides it under a bed; instead, he or she puts it on a stand so that people can see the light (Luke 8:16). And Jesus further advises that we should let our light shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16). In other words, we should magnify the Lord in our words and actions.

People freely discuss education, entertainment, sports, politics, and so forth with us. They take it for granted that these topics are acceptable to us. Therefore, we should not feel shy or timid to squeeze in some discussions about Jesus Christ and him crucified for our sins. We should not think we are being offensive when we also initiate discussions with some of those people or do things that magnify the Lord. That was what Paul meant when he instructed Timothy to be prepared to preach in season and out of season; that is, to preach when it is convenient and when it is not convenient (2 Timothy 4:2).

Mary magnified the Lord. King David invited his people to magnify the Lord with him and exalt His name together (Psalm 34:3, ESV). Who and what do our souls magnify? Is it God and His Son Jesus Christ, ourselves, someone or something else? One way to find out is to determine how we use our time, talents, treasures, and all other resources. For example, if we owned a business or led an organization, we would invest resources to promote that business or organization. In effect, we would magnify the business or organization from its location in a small corner of the world to potential customers located far away who otherwise may not know about the business or organization.

We should do a little bit of that with the Lord by taking our personal relationship with Christ at home and magnifying it onto others yearning for free salvation. Our good deeds alone may not be enough to attract people to Christ, just as good products or services alone, without some form of marketing, may not effectively promote the business or organization.

All of us have good reasons to magnify the Lord. First, we are alive by the grace of God. It is not because we have taken good care of ourselves. Many of us know people who were alive by this time in 2016, and who took good care of themselves, but are no longer with us. The dead cannot magnify the Lord for those living on earth to see, but you and I can. Moreover, we have hope in 2017 and we look forward to 2018 with great anticipation when we can join Charles Wesley in his beautiful hymn found in the Methodist Hymnal:

“And are we yet alive,

And see each other's face?

Glory, and thanks to Jesus give

For his almighty grace!”

Second, we are well enough to read this article. Many are those struggling for their very lives at various hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Third, some of us have personal experience with the Lord who has been our shepherd in good and bad times.

And so in this Christmas season, let’s try something modest, but challenging to many. Let’s find our magnifying glass and project it onto our own Christian lives. Let’s identify at least one thing Christ has done for us personally. Then, let’s go out and find one person to whom we can magnify at least one thing about the Lord. Preaching, projecting, and proclaiming Christ and our personal relationship with him are some of the ways we can magnify the Lord.

Prayer is the key. May God grant us the grace to seek Him daily through our prayers.

Merry Christmas.

Dr. Daniel Gyebi, Attorney-at-Law, Texas, U.S.A., and Founder, PrayerHouse Ministry, Kumasi, Ghana.