Americans currently owe nearly $1.2 trillion in credit card debt, with 28 percent of the people still paying off purchases from last Christmas. Culturally, we need a little less eggnog and a lot more fiscal responsibility.

There is a certain poetry to the debt we amass leading up to Christmas.

As religious celebrations go, Christmas has become a safe secular holiday. It demands nothing but good cheer, eggnog, and the dying remains of a tree in your living room.

Look too closely at it, though, and the secular observance of Christmas makes less sense. We rack up heavy credit card debt to buy things our loved ones probably don’t need. We trade the momentary “joy” of watching them unwrap the gift for months of stress trying to figure out how to pay for it.

Which, of course, is precisely why the arrival of Jesus was necessary. 

Sin, like those Christmas purchases online, can seem innocuous enough. We can easily justify our sins. They feel good in the moment and are always wrapped in a pleasing, convenient package. It is only later, when confronted with the actual cost, that we become aware of the burden sin lays on us.

Mankind amassed a debt of sin, a price we could never pay by our individual or collective efforts. Yet God, in His time and mercy, made a provision for our relief. 

Christmas looks back at that moment in time when the Godhead put on Manhood. The Son began humbly walking to Calvary as the only acceptable and complete propitiation for our sins. 

It’s noteworthy that the Bible puts our sin in the context of a debt. That is why, on the cross, Jesus’ final recorded word was “tetelestai.” That’s an ancient Greek word used on receipts of the era to signify that something had been paid in full. “It is finished.”

At Christmas, we should rejoice that our debt of sin was paid on the cross. Perhaps, rather than fill the closets of loved ones with more junk, we should take the opportunity presented by Christmas to proclaim the good news of Christ.

It will be a while before Americans dig out from under their consumer debt, but Jesus has paid in full the price of sin. As the old hymn put it, “Joy to the world, the Savior reigns. Repeat the sounding joy!”

That joy is found in knowing Jesus.