Just about every few days we hear of someone who takes offense and wants to take the Christ out of CHRISTmas by calling it a winter holiday. They don’t want to “offend” anyone. In that case, then leave it alone. You are offending me and millions more Christians. Apparently, offending Christians is okay.
There is one thing we know for sure. Satan loves this time of year. Don’t you imagine one of his favorite things to watch played out is Christian folks getting upset? When we are upset about the behavior of the secular world we take our eyes off Christ. That is his goal.
First, no one can take our CHRIST out of CHRISTmas. He is the Savior of the world. He is not a simple word in a phrase. He is not a banner hung across the windows, buildings and shops. He is the Christ the Son of the living God. He is our Savior. Nothing or no one can rip Him from our heart and soul or our celebration!
CHRISTmas to believers in Christ is a celebration of His birth. It has become a day to share our love of Christ by giving gifts and blessing those we love and cherish. Those who choose not to believe in the birth of Christ or that He is the Son of God have taken our holiday and tried to make it their own by giving gifts and celebrating for the sake of celebrating. As a Christian I have no problem with that as it has gone on since June 28, 1870. Under President Ulysses S. Grant the Congress of the United States passed a law making CHRISTmas a federal holiday. Often it means simply a time to have a day off from work, eat, drink and be merry with no thought of the spiritual meaning of the season.
Thought For The Day:
No one can keep us from saying Merry Christmas. No one can keep us from celebrating the birth of Christ at CHRISTmas. He is with us every minute of every day of every year of our life from the moment we accepted Him as our Savior. We don’t just think about Him from Black Friday to December 25th. He is in the soul of the believer as long as we breathe on this earth.
So let us continue celebrating the birth of our Savior. Let us continue to keep Christ in our family celebration as in times past. When we feel led that our voice might be used to further the cause of Christ in CHRISTmas let us speak up in a godly way. Let us soak up the treasures of scripture from the Apostles Paul and Peter. They knew adversity in their day as well.
Scriptures For Today:
2 Timothy 2:24-25
24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.(NKJV)
1 Peter 3:15
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. 17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.(NKJV)
2 Timothy 4:1-22
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.(NKJV)
Prayer For Today:
Hello Father! Thank You for sending Jesus to our rescue. There are days when we feel anger rising up and a need to defend His place in our CHRISTmas that the world wants to abolish. Give us the desire to witness with kindness what Jesus means to us personally and the hope we have of eternal life. Give us boldness to walk unafraid and to proclaim that our Jesus is the one and only reason we celebrate CHRISTmas. Father, forgive us our sins and shortcomings. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
