Beginning to look at lot like Christmas

Think on this…I love Christmas. I know for many it is just another day, but you must admit, people are often nicer and more compassionate around this time. Well, not if you are in the middle of the shopping frenzy. My point is that this should be a special time in which we remember the greatest gift the world has ever known, and that is the birth of Jesus. Once you look past the overwhelming commercialism you might just see what is so special about this season.

I do understand that Jesus was most likely not born in December. I also grasp the fact that traditions like a Christmas tree, and a Yule log are rooted in pagan rituals. Don’t get me started on the whole Santa Clause mythology; all these things make it hard to see power and the worth of the holiday. Then you have countless people going into debt to buy gifts that will totally forgotten by the next Christmas. Do you recall the Christmas shopping season starting after Thanksgiving? All of a sudden Christmas starts the day after Halloween, it all seems to be about the money. Looking at what this holiday has become, makes me sad.

What is Christmas supposed to be? It’s supposed to be a day in which we remember that when we were without hope, God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus came to the earth to rescue us from our impending doom. So, Almighty God, identified with our human condition. We didn’t have a God who watched us from afar, but one who understood what we were going through and cared enough to do something about it. "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" —which means, "God with us." Matt 1:23

That is Christmas. That is a reason to celebrate. We are celebrating God’s love, not store discounts, red-nosed reindeer, of jolly snowmen. Jesus is the reason for the season. Of all my non-Christian friends I have not met one person who thinks that Jesus’ birth and life was a bad thing. So, his birth should be celebrated! I am sorry that people would make you think the holiday was about anything other then that… Just a thought.