#486: Christmas

Every Christmas, I hear the debate over whether or not Christmas is a pagan holiday that should not be celebrated by Christians.

I’m away that the holiday started on December 25 because that was the first that people notice the day getting longer after the winter solstice and people were celebrating the extra daylight.

I know that the date of Jesus’ birth is unknown.

I know Christmas has been commercialized and is more about Santa Claus and spending money than it is celebrating the birth of our Savior.

But here’s what I have to say. God knows the heart.

God knows if you’re celebrating Christmas just so you can give and get gifts. God knows if you are worshiping Santa more than you are Jesus. God knows if the Christmas spirit in your heart is truly about the birth of our Savior, or if it’s about Black Friday.

I don’t have a problem with celebrating Christmas if you remember that the word actual means “Christ Mass”.

The exchange of gifts is symbolic, at least in my mind, of the gifts that were brought to the baby Jesus. Nativity scenes play on my heart more than reindeer and sleigh decorations do. And the giving of gifts is because I love those that I am gifting and I’m thankful to Jesus that they are in my life.

Call me a pagan, but I’m celebrating the birth of Jesus. And when Easter comes, I’ll celebrate His resurrection from the grave.

It’s odd because I used to have neighbors that were of a denomination that didn’t celebrate Christmas. And it wasn’t just that they didn’t quietly “uncelebrate”, they made it known that those that did celebrate were, well, “paganish”.

But a couple of weeks after Christtmas, they celebrated what they called “Family Day”, and they had a big dinner and exchanged gifts. Which is worse, gathering together as family and exchanging gifts in celebration of Jesus, or gathering together as family and exchanging gifts in celebration of, well, ourselves? Not being critical or disparaging, just being honest.

I know it’s early, and I was hoping of timing the start of the New Testament around Christmas, but it doesn’t look as if my timing is right.

So in the next few days, we’ll be starting the next chapter in our discussion, the New Testament.

Blessings.