Scripture: The trees of the field will clap their hands! (Isaiah 55:12 NLT).

In the 8th century, St. Boniface left Britain and traveled to Germany as a missionary. He came upon a chieftain about to offer his own little son as a human sacrifice to a pagan god whom they believed lived in a huge oak tree.

Interrupting their ritual, Boniface boldly took an ax and began chopping down the mighty oak. Some yelled for him to stop, but others responded that if Thor were a real god, he could protect his own tree…An enormous wind helped blow it over, and the heathen throng watched in awe. They rejected their defeated pagan gods and converted to Christianity.

Then Boniface’s gaze fell on a young fir-tree, standing straight and green, with its top pointing towards the stars, “Here is the living tree, with no stain of blood upon it. This shall be the sign of your new faith. See how it points to the heavens? Let us call it the tree of the Christ-child. You shall no more keep your feasts with secret rites of shame. You shall keep them at home, with laughter and song and acts of kindness. The day is coming when there shall not be a home in all Germany where the children are not gathered around the green fir-tree to rejoice in the birth of Christ.” Then he told the story of Bethlehem; of the babe in the manger, of the shepherds on the hills, of the host of angels and their song. All the people listened, charmed into stillness.

For centuries, at Christmastime Germans hung a fir tree upside-down from ceilings as a symbol of Christianity.

Prayer:  Father, help us see our Christmas trees as symbols of Your incredible love. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.