Why Christmas excites us

John the Baptist would understand how you feel. In this week's Gospel (Luke 3:1-6), he found out Jesus was going to start His work, and John got so excited that he ran around telling everyone!

John the Baptist was in the desert when he heard Jesus was going to start teaching people about God. Right away, John went all over the country, saying, "Get ready for Jesus! Fill up the valleys and cut down the mountains, and make a straight road for Him to travel!"

That's how John the Baptist felt. He was Jesus' cousin, so he already knew how special Jesus was. John could hardly wait for Jesus to start teaching people about God and doing miracles; he had to talk about it all the time to make sure everyone was ready!

When you're impatient for Christmas to come, you want to do something big -- to run around, yell and dance. Just like you, John the Baptist got so excited, he shouted that other people should do something big: They should cut down mountains and build roads for Jesus!

Wanting Christmas to come and wanting Jesus to come are really the same thing, because Jesus was born at Christmas. So when you're happy and yelling, your family might get frustrated, but Jesus won't. He'd be happy that you're excited about Him!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me be excited about you at Christmas! Amen.