The Reason
Jesus is the reason for the season; this phrase that has become the modern Christian mantra is true. Jesus is the reason for every season as in Him and through Him, God has created all things and in Him all things are held together. For the Christian, Jesus and telling others of Him is our reason for living during this winter holiday season and also every day of the year. We belong to Jesus and not to ourselves and our salvation is reason enough for celebration through-out the present season and for as many seasons as God has appointed us to walk upon this earth.
I know I have strayed from the original intent of this popular mantra and given it my own meaning. I have done so with a purpose in mind, that of reminding myself and other Christians who read this of what we should be focused upon during this time of year that so many hold to be special. Though many of us say, "Jesus is the reason", write it on cards, and have it painted on store front windows, I'm not sure that our words are really an expression of right focus. In recent years, it seems to have a more political meaning and has become a kind of battle cry against those secular progressives that want Christian values removed as the underpinning of the United States government and culture. Though I believe that Christians should be involved in politics and make an effort to keep Christian thought and values upon the common table of ideas, I don't think politics should be the focus of our faith nor where we place our hope for a better world. There are greater battles to be fought, at this present time, than keeping nativity scenes in court houses and pressuring retailers to continue saying, "Merry Christmas" rather than "Happy Holidays". Our focus, as always, should be on spreading the gospel and seeing people come to faith in Jesus Christ.
This may be shocking to some but I no longer celebrate a traditional Christmas and I have come to this decision because of my deep love for Jesus. First of all, I am not a Catholic and Mass has no part in my devotional life. I do celebrate the birth of Jesus each time that I read about it in the Bible and every time that God brings the wonder of His earthly incarnation to my mind. I know that Jesus was not born on December 25th so I don't celebrate that day as His birthday. I am sure that if He wanted His birthday celebrated, He would have made known the true date and would have commanded that we do so. He did neither and instead, the only religious observation He commanded was the celebration of His last supper. Jesus did not come to establish a new religion and rituals, traditions, and special days were not of great concern to Him. Jesus came to die for the sins of all of us and to save us by imparting eternal life to us through faith in Him.
I no longer bring a tree into my home or decorate as I know that Christmas trees are Druid in origin and my conscience won't allow me to do this even though decorating at Christmas was once my favorite part of the holiday. I do not tell my grandchildren about Santa nor participate in that game as Santa is also of Pagan origin and Paganism has no part in my life in any season. I belong to Jesus. The decision to eschew the Pagan practices that are a big part of the Christmas celebration did not come directly in response to my gaining knowledge of their origins. For many years, I bought into the notion that it was harmless and that it brought lost persons to church and gave Christians an opportunity to share Jesus. In recent years, Paganism has become a very popular religion and even if many Christians do not know where Christmas really came from, Pagans do. I could no longer be comfortable with such an alliance with the world that I feel can be confusing to those who do not know Jesus. I want Pagan people to be able to see the difference between Jesus and the gods that they embrace and for that reason, I have separated myself from many traditional Christmas practices.
I do not put myself into debt buying presents. I don't expect presents from others. I do not build high expectations of a special day when all should be perfect in myself or in any other person that I have influence over. I do not stress myself out with Church programs and performances either in taking part in them or attending them. I don't overwork myself cooking big dinners nor do I spend a lot of time making or eating unhealthy food and giving it to others. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and stress and eating wrong hurts my body. My conscience will no longer allow me to harm my body or do anything that encourages others to do the same.
Jesus is the reason why I have made all of these changes in my life and in the way I observe December 25th. Yet, December 25th is a day to be redeemed as is all the time that God has appointed to me to live on planet earth. I am not on a crusade to educate Christians on the evils of Christmas but I do desire that all the words that I write and speak be edifying to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I do not judge other Christians who choose to observe Christmas in the traditional American way and I do not wish to add to the controversy that also seems to have become an American Christmas tradition. Though there are many things I do not do in observation of this day, I can't go out of the world even though I am not part of it and there are many things that I do participate in. I enjoy church and I go to church at this time of year as I endeavor to do the rest of the year. I love to praise and worship Jesus with fellow Christians. It is always a good thing to have extra time off to spend with family and friends and I take advantage of it. I enjoy buying gifts that I can afford for the people I love and I do. It is a good thing to reach out to the poor during the winter months and give them something warm to wear or something extra to eat. If Christmas reminds me of this, I do so. I hope to always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and careful to perform all the good works that God presses upon me to do. I desire that my life be an expression of the Love that is God and December 25th is as an important of a day to do so as any other.
So you see, Jesus is my reason for my choosing to observe Christmas as I do. I am not asking that any other do as I do. Just as Jesus did not come to establish a new religion, neither am I much interested in reforming any religion. I am interested in making Jesus known to those who do not know Him. I am interested in encouraging my brothers and sisters in Christ to keep their eyes and hearts set on Him. Most of all, I am interested in working out my own salvation with fear and trembling and living my life as the Holy Spirit insists that I live it. My prayer and my hope for any and all who may read this post is that Jesus also be your reason, your guide for living, during this holiday season and all of the seasons of your life.
I know I have strayed from the original intent of this popular mantra and given it my own meaning. I have done so with a purpose in mind, that of reminding myself and other Christians who read this of what we should be focused upon during this time of year that so many hold to be special. Though many of us say, "Jesus is the reason", write it on cards, and have it painted on store front windows, I'm not sure that our words are really an expression of right focus. In recent years, it seems to have a more political meaning and has become a kind of battle cry against those secular progressives that want Christian values removed as the underpinning of the United States government and culture. Though I believe that Christians should be involved in politics and make an effort to keep Christian thought and values upon the common table of ideas, I don't think politics should be the focus of our faith nor where we place our hope for a better world. There are greater battles to be fought, at this present time, than keeping nativity scenes in court houses and pressuring retailers to continue saying, "Merry Christmas" rather than "Happy Holidays". Our focus, as always, should be on spreading the gospel and seeing people come to faith in Jesus Christ.
This may be shocking to some but I no longer celebrate a traditional Christmas and I have come to this decision because of my deep love for Jesus. First of all, I am not a Catholic and Mass has no part in my devotional life. I do celebrate the birth of Jesus each time that I read about it in the Bible and every time that God brings the wonder of His earthly incarnation to my mind. I know that Jesus was not born on December 25th so I don't celebrate that day as His birthday. I am sure that if He wanted His birthday celebrated, He would have made known the true date and would have commanded that we do so. He did neither and instead, the only religious observation He commanded was the celebration of His last supper. Jesus did not come to establish a new religion and rituals, traditions, and special days were not of great concern to Him. Jesus came to die for the sins of all of us and to save us by imparting eternal life to us through faith in Him.
I no longer bring a tree into my home or decorate as I know that Christmas trees are Druid in origin and my conscience won't allow me to do this even though decorating at Christmas was once my favorite part of the holiday. I do not tell my grandchildren about Santa nor participate in that game as Santa is also of Pagan origin and Paganism has no part in my life in any season. I belong to Jesus. The decision to eschew the Pagan practices that are a big part of the Christmas celebration did not come directly in response to my gaining knowledge of their origins. For many years, I bought into the notion that it was harmless and that it brought lost persons to church and gave Christians an opportunity to share Jesus. In recent years, Paganism has become a very popular religion and even if many Christians do not know where Christmas really came from, Pagans do. I could no longer be comfortable with such an alliance with the world that I feel can be confusing to those who do not know Jesus. I want Pagan people to be able to see the difference between Jesus and the gods that they embrace and for that reason, I have separated myself from many traditional Christmas practices.
I do not put myself into debt buying presents. I don't expect presents from others. I do not build high expectations of a special day when all should be perfect in myself or in any other person that I have influence over. I do not stress myself out with Church programs and performances either in taking part in them or attending them. I don't overwork myself cooking big dinners nor do I spend a lot of time making or eating unhealthy food and giving it to others. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and stress and eating wrong hurts my body. My conscience will no longer allow me to harm my body or do anything that encourages others to do the same.
Jesus is the reason why I have made all of these changes in my life and in the way I observe December 25th. Yet, December 25th is a day to be redeemed as is all the time that God has appointed to me to live on planet earth. I am not on a crusade to educate Christians on the evils of Christmas but I do desire that all the words that I write and speak be edifying to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I do not judge other Christians who choose to observe Christmas in the traditional American way and I do not wish to add to the controversy that also seems to have become an American Christmas tradition. Though there are many things I do not do in observation of this day, I can't go out of the world even though I am not part of it and there are many things that I do participate in. I enjoy church and I go to church at this time of year as I endeavor to do the rest of the year. I love to praise and worship Jesus with fellow Christians. It is always a good thing to have extra time off to spend with family and friends and I take advantage of it. I enjoy buying gifts that I can afford for the people I love and I do. It is a good thing to reach out to the poor during the winter months and give them something warm to wear or something extra to eat. If Christmas reminds me of this, I do so. I hope to always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and careful to perform all the good works that God presses upon me to do. I desire that my life be an expression of the Love that is God and December 25th is as an important of a day to do so as any other.
So you see, Jesus is my reason for my choosing to observe Christmas as I do. I am not asking that any other do as I do. Just as Jesus did not come to establish a new religion, neither am I much interested in reforming any religion. I am interested in making Jesus known to those who do not know Him. I am interested in encouraging my brothers and sisters in Christ to keep their eyes and hearts set on Him. Most of all, I am interested in working out my own salvation with fear and trembling and living my life as the Holy Spirit insists that I live it. My prayer and my hope for any and all who may read this post is that Jesus also be your reason, your guide for living, during this holiday season and all of the seasons of your life.
5 Comments:
Hi Pam,
Excellent post. Even though you and I would probably disagree about whether December 25th should be celebrated at all, I do appreciate your striving for the truth and being led by the Spirit in these matters.
Shalom!
p.s. Could you do me a huge favor? In your blogger settings, under "Site Feed", can you set "Allow Blog Feeds" to "Full"? Without this, we can't read your full blog posts using RSS readers, something a lot of folks use to read blogs. Thanks!
Hi Judah,
Actually, I hope to celebrate every day in Jesus and I don't feel disagreeable toward your stance at all.:0)
I'll let BB know about this. You know, my generation are a tad handicapped when it comes to this stuff. If something doesn't work, I just think it is me!
May you and your family experience showers of God's blessings in the coming years. Peace to you too, little brother.
Pam
Okay, I set it to full. I'm embarrased to say I'm a professional computer programmer, and I have no idea what that just did.
BB,
LOL! You just made my day!
Burning Bush, I'm a programmer (C#) as well, so hello from a fellow software dev.
Go to an RSS reader like google.com/reader and subscribe to this blog. You'll see the posts show up in full in Google Reader, whereas before it was showing only the first few sentences.
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