In today's world, everyone celebrates Christmas no matter belief or worldview because we have all come to embrace Christmas as a time of getting. The laws of budget and constraint become suspended at this time of the year as we spend more than we have for the purpose of giving so we can make sure we all get something.
Is Christmas about getting? The time is set aside to honor the birth of the Christ-child. The exact time of his birth is not the 25th of December, but does it really matter? Whether you believe in Christ or not is not the issue; the issue is the original meaning and purpose behind Christmas... giving. God gave His one and only Son to the world so that the world would not be without hope. Through His Son, the world, His creation, has a way back to the Father. Those who believe in the Son will be with the Father in worship forever as was the purpose for the Father in creating all of us in the beginning. This account is littered with the action of giving. God, the Father, gave; Jesus, the Son, gave. God even gave the Holy Spirit to us to assist us in coming back to Him. And, what are we to give in all of this? We are to give ourselves to Christ for the purpose of eternal life! Even in our giving in this process, we get... we get everything by giving to Him who deserves so much more.
Christmas, in my opinion, is about giving. It has become distorted because we have turned the process upside down and made it about us, as is always our tendency. It is a time of the year when we are to model God the Father and give... give... and give. But, as is so often the case, we tend to distort messages and turn them inside out so they fit our purposes. The message of giving has become the message of getting and the spirit of Christmas has become muddied and confused. The commercial side of our country as pushed this idea of getting inside this idea of self and worked it to the point of convincing all of us that Christmas is a time to ensure that at least one time during the year we get what we deserve. What we have lost is this: the reality is that if we are given what we deserve gifts and wrapping paper are the least of our worries.
My prayer is that those of us in Christ would lead the charge in taking back Christmas for its original purposes... giving. Be wary though, if you give there will be no guarantee of a return gift, but that is part of the true spirit of giving. God the Father gave, understanding that in His divine providence some would not be saved. There are no guarantees in life; that is a concept man invented in order to try and have it all. We can not have it all on this side of heaven. We only get it all when we put our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Then, those of us in Christ, will truly have all that we need... forever.
I warmly wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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