Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
The Christmas season is upon us. The stores are full of stuff to buy from gift to decorations and so on. People are everywhere loading up on stuff and statistics show that many of them are going into credit card debt in order to buy their families gifts. With all of this hustle and bustle of the season the real meaning of Christmas is easy to forget and leave behind.
This year I had high hopes of lots of gifts for Peter and the kids. But through some issues, money appears to be much tighter than originally planned and it won’t work out. There will be some gifts, but nothing really exciting. In the end, it’s all okay because expensive and fancy gifts or a number of non-expensive fancy gifts aren’t really necessary for a good Christmas.
The Real Meaning.
Christmas started long ago, at least as a concept. We don’t always tell the story in a way that is real accurate. It is true that Mary and Joseph were traveling to register in the city of David (Bethlehem). Those who come from lands that are wintery in the Christmas season envision snow and cold as Mary and Joseph try and find a place in the inn.
Most know that the inn didn’t work out for them and young Mary and her husband Joseph ended up in the stable for the night and as luck would have it, she went into labor. As a woman who has given birth to two children, I can’t imagine doing it with no one but my husband and in a stable none the less. But Mary did an excellent job and brought Jesus into this world.
What was special about this birth wasn’t its location or even the season it happened in (studies have shown it was probably in August or there abouts if my memory serves me right). It wasn’t that the shepherds came and that the wise men brought expensive gifts. Some believe these things could have taken place as late as two years later. Instead what made it special was the fact that Jesus was born.
Jesus wasn’t an ordinary baby. Sure he needed his mother in the same way other babies do. But Jesus was the Son of God and through him the world would be saved. He was the Lamb of God and his blood and death would be what saved man kind and all those who ask can have His death cover their sins.
So, later on, the Catholic church placed the celebration of Jesus’ birth on a pagan holiday so more people would celebrate. While that has a few things to raise your eyebrow to and many of our common holiday celebrations have some roots in those pagan holidays, what we really need to remember is what we should be thinking about on this holiday season.
It is a time to be thankful for all that God has done for us. It is a time to look at his birth with joy and his upcoming death with a full heart. At this time it is important that we not loose focus on the reason for the holiday. Sure getting gifts can be nice, but we have been given the best gift of all time. The birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world, is the best gift possible.
While going through the hustle and bustle of the season, don’t forget that the reason for the season is Jesus!