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What Are You Giving Jesus For His Birthday This Year? Ask a majority of
adults what Christmas means to them, and they will most certainly say
the birth of Jesus Christ. But
did you know that Jesus Christ wasn’t even born on December 25? No one
knows for sure when Jesus was really born, not even Biblical Scholars. Did you know that
the first three centuries of the Christian era Christian’s did not
celebrate Christmas because they felt that celebrating birthdays was a
pagan custom? Many people will tell you today that Christmas is still a
pagan custom simply because the idea of spending thousands of dollars
and going into debt isn’t something to celebrate. How about decorating
a pine tree with stuff, stringing popcorn on strings, receiving gifts
from a bearded fat old man who comes strolling down the chimney? Where
does Jesus fit into these customs? Ask any child under
the age of six and they will tell you that Christmas is about getting
presents and Santa Claus coming down the chimney to deliver them toys,
but only if they have been good. Parents have used this Santa fib for
many years to get their children to behave while shopping and to get
them to go to bed when they are told. If they have been naughty they can
forget about getting any toys. So why was December
25th chosen as the date to celebrate Christmas? According to
the Collier’s Encyclopedia 1966 the choice of December 25th
was influenced by the fact that on this day the Roman’s celebrated the
feast of the Sun-god, and that the Saturnalia came at that time. Sun-god
and Saturnalia? Because of this
pagan observance of the Sun-god by the Roman community, the Church took
advantage of this December 25th ritual and turned the people
away from their Sun-god and made it a day to adore Christ the Lord
instead...and this is how Christmas came about. My question is, do
the children adore Christ the Lord, or Santa? Jesus doesn’t bring them
any presents and he doesn’t come flying down the chimney every year
either. In fact, they
can’t even see Jesus except as a glass statue in a manger surrounded
by some sheep. I don’t think they adore that too much, what do you think? Let’s suppose
December 25th is the Birth of Jesus, where do all the
presents, santa claus, reindeer, elf’s, and putting stuff on a tree
fit into the Birth of our Lord and Savior?
Through the years European customs and rituals have slowly wormed
their way into the celebration of what is now called Christmas. Christmas is
celebrated around the globe a little different everywhere depending on
where you live. But they all are based upon the same idea of gift giving
and getting, putting stuff on a tree to make it look pretty, and santa
coming down the chimney and the nativity scene. From what I have
gathered in just the past several years, the biggest fans of Christmas
are the retailers and the children, and in that order. What do you think
about this? If the
“true” meaning of Christmas is “really” celebrating the birth of
Jesus then we should be doing something for Jesus, I mean it’s his
birthday right? You wouldn’t give your Aunt Florence a bunch of
presents if it were your husband’s birthday, would you? Maybe we should try
and be more like Jesus by helping our neighbors who are really in need,
and giving up our presents, time and money and giving them to someone
who is really in need of these things. I know this is what Jesus would
want you to do and it’s his birthday. |