Over the last few days many of us have paused to celebrate Christmas to commemorate the birth of Jesus. Now that we are days beyond Christmas we are moving on with our lives. But should we be moving on?

An angel appeared to Joseph and said of Mary, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21, ESV). Then the day Jesus was born an angel appeared to shepherds in a field and said to them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11, ESV).

Christmas is the day the Savior was born, and the Savior is what humanity needs most. In light of this truth, can we really move on from Christmas? Christmas is never over because we will never be over our need for the Savior. God sent the Savior, the Deliverer, the One who brings our salvation—He sent Jesus because He knew a Savior was what we needed more than anything else.

Consider what Peter said: "...knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God" (1 Peter 1:18-21, ESV).

God knew we needed a Savior before He created us, yet He created us anyway. And then He sent Jesus to save us! Jesus wasn't God's plan B. Jesus was God's plan from before creation. God began saving us at creation. He continued saving us at the birth of Jesus. He saved us at Calvary. He saves us with faith, with confession, with obedience, with repentance, with baptism, and with His Spirit. And He saves us again and again in every moment we acknowledge our need for Him. His saving of us is a continual journey. What a miraculous demonstration of God's provision for His creation.

We may have moved beyond the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but I don't think we can ever move beyond Christmas. We will never move beyond our need for the Savior. He is the one thing we need most of all.

Though it's days beyond Christmas, I'm still celebrating because I still need the Savior. And every day I say as Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Luke 1:46-47, ESV).