Wow, after 23 years, I’m celebrating an Ethiopian Christmas Day with my families and friends here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Oh, I can’t tell you the feeling I have right now.

I still love to hold on to my childhood memories but the thing is my parents kept all the culture and traditions the same. So I am pretty much “re-living” my childhood memories all over again! Wonderful feeling!

What can I say to my Lord and God who kept me alive to this day to see this wonderful day! I love You, Jesus! You are my Rock and Refuge! You are my Hope and Salvation! You are my all in all! Thank You!

The only thing that bothers me a bit today is this: I hate to see that cute lamb and those two pretty chickens losing their lives for our celebration! Hah!

But slaughtering animals for our food is I guess part of life. My niece is an animal activist and she doesn’t eat meat. She is seventeen years old. I felt so guilty for eating them while she eats vegetable and other stuff.

The problem is I love eating meat but I don’t know if I am capable of seeing those innocent animals being killed for me to eat them. So, I didn’t witness the death of any of those cute animals; so I’m so ready to eat them, lol.

It is 9:02am now here in Addis Ababa and I am in the guest house my parents built next to their house and I can see and hear all the celebration through my bedroom window. I can’t wait to take shower and go there to eat my breakfast with my families.

The lamb is slaughtered!

But sitting here in my bed, I can’t help but think about another Lamb!

The Lamb, Jesus Christ, who was born, not to live but to die. I hate to think about Him dying on the cross but I am so happy that He died on the Cross for me.

Because the Lamb is “slaughtered”, I’m always so ready to “eat His flesh and drink His blood” (John 6:53-54).

Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29). We can only be part-takers of Christ’s eternal life if we eat His flesh and drink His blood. What that means for me is this: As I constantly strive to die for myself, He lives in me! As I continue to die for myself, all the flesh and blood in me will be His.

He died for me so I may live for Him (2 Corinthians 5:15). Do you live for Christ? Do you eat His flesh and drink His blood? He came to this earth only for one purpose: To die for you and me so that we live forever! As the Bible says, Jesus wants to live His life through you and me so that He seeks the lost and save them (Luke 19:10). We were lost but found because somebody died for him/herself and let Jesus live in him/her.

So, let’s all strive today to die for ourselves and live for Christ so that somebody out there might be found! ///