Lore has it that the “Partridge in a Pear Tree” is a reference to Christ hanging on the cross.

At the center of Christianity is the cross. It is what sets us apart from Judaism and other world religions. It is also the hardest part of Christianity. Other world religions either place the burden to atone for our sins on us or discount our sins to quick and painless redemption. We are either responsible to do enough good to overcome the bad we have done or God just forgives us without any cost paid at all. The cross is different. The cross is the cost God paid on our behalf to redeem us from our sins.

Why couldn’t it be a different way? Because God is perfectly just and perfectly loving. God cannot tolerate sin; He cannot allow sin in His presence. The cost of sin, then, is death – separation from God. But God loves us enough that He came to pay the price for our sin – to die in our place. He took on our sin that we might be regarded as blameless. It is through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that our sin is washed away and we are made right with God.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This is the promise and hope of the cross.

When it comes to Christmas songs, one of my favorites is “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Nothing is better than belting out a song about leaping lords, swimming swans, and, of course, those five golden rings.

Lore surrounding the song places its creation during the period 1558 to 1829 when it Catholics were prohibited by law from practicing their faith in England. It was written, they say, as a catechism to remind and teach young Catholics about their faith. Each day supposedly represents a tenet of faith they wished to pass on to future generations.

While the story surrounding this great song may be a bit murky,* the principles associated with it are of eternal importance. The twelve days of Christmas, those days between Christmas Day and Epiphany (the day celebrating the baptism of Jesus by John), are an excellent time for us to reflect on these important teachings of faith. Hopefully, they will serve as a reminder and encouragement to us of the great love of God and the lessons of faith that have upheld us as Christians throughout the centuries.

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

Philippians 3:12-14

I have a dream of a perfect Christmas. There will be a light dusting of snow outside and the trees will glimmer with ice. The kids will open their gifts slowly and be thankful when they get clothes instead of toys. Everything will fit, and work, and be assembled beforehand. We all will sit around and drink hot chocolate as we read the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke. That’s my dream. Reality is much different.

God has a dream for us as well. He dreams of a day when sin no longer will taint our relationship with Him. He dreams that we will be united together as a body of Christ and there will be no pain anymore. He dreams of a time when we can all come and worship Him with pure hearts. And one day His dream will be a reality.

In my heart, that’s my dream too.

How to plug into God’s eternal perfection: Celebrate today that one day all will be perfect. As much as we strive to be perfect today, someday Christ will come again and make our imperfect hearts perfect. Today, celebrate that coming perfection.