What Christmas Eve Means to 4 Billion+ People in the World

Today is Christmas Eve 2024. Among Christ-followers, we look forward to celebrating our Savior’s birth tomorrow, and we long for the day when we will see Him face-to-face. For more than 4 billion people around the world, though, today is different:

1. A celebration of Christ’s birth is not on their minds. It can’t be, because most of them have never heard the name of Jesus. They don’t even know He exists.
2. If “eve” implies something exciting yet to come, this day is not an “eve” for them. It’s just another day. Little will be different tomorrow, regardless of the date on the calendar.
3. If they’re thinking about their spiritual lives at all, they’re likely trying to work their way to please their god(s). Some are offering sacrifices to false gods. Others are striving to do enough good works to please their god. Still others are meditating and chanting. The very idea that God would take the initiative to come to earth and bring redemption to sinners is foreign to these billions.
4. On a night when we celebrate the coming of light, they remain in darkness. They are “blinded by the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:3-4), and they live in the “domain of darkness” (Col 1:13). The star hovering over Bethlehem means little to them.
5. Many are facing hardships of life today—without hope. While most of us will rest safely tonight in anticipation of celebrating tomorrow, others face the daily realities of war, hunger, disease, political instability, and any number of other struggles. They’re fighting for life, but without knowing the One who is life.
6. Christmas Eve will continue to mean nothing to them unless we get the gospel to them. We’re the only plan God has given us to reach them, and it’s our responsibility to take the initiative to take the Good News to them.
7. For somebody somewhere, today will be the day of salvation when he responds to the faithful proclamation of a missionary. That missionary might well be missing family this holiday season, but this is why he or she lives among the nations—so non-believers will know the baby in Bethlehem.

This Christmas eve, would you please pray for unreached peoples around the world? And for the missionaries who are seeking to reach them?