Christmas contrast

This past Sunday our church held its annual Christmas program. It was a great program (especially since two of my grandchildren were in it!). Like most Christmas programs, it depicted the first Christmas. It was quite a contrast to the day before when our family celebrated a "partial" Christmas. This was because my son-in-law is leaving for Afghanistan shortly (please pray for him) and Saturday was our opportunity to celebrate Christmas with them.

There is no disputing the fact that the way we celebrate Christmas today is a gross commercialization in comparison to the tranquil manager scene that welcomed Christ into the world. You have to wonder how we have moved so far away from what Christmas represents. But I don't believe the answer to getting Christ back into Christmas is the world's responsibility. It is squarely on the backs of we who understand the significance of the birth of Christ in light of Calvary. I always remember what Larry Burkett said. "We don't need to preach to the unsaved world to put Christ back into Christmas. They shouldn't; we should".

Maybe we need to stop griping about "Holiday" Trees, Happy "Holidays" and the ACLU removing every Nativity Scene they can get their hands on. First we, as believers in Jesus Christ, need to restore the true meaning of Christmas in our own homes. Chuck Thompson, a staff editor for Crown, wrote an excellent article on the need to gradually restore the true meaning of Christmas in our homes.

I would encourage each of us to take some time to prayfully evaluate the way we celebrate Christmas. Then develop a plan that might even take a few years to execute. The object of the plan would simply be to make the focus of Christmas Jesus Christ, and not the stuff that we exchange.

As Chuck Thompson said in the article, this is probably a process that will take time and a diligent effort. Here are a few simple suggestions that I came up with that could get us started, possibly even this year.

1. Christmas morning read the Christmas story and have a short time of prayer thanking God for the gift of His son before opening any gifts

2. Invite someone over for Christmas dinner who would be alone on Christmas Day

3. Give meaningful spiritual gifts (devotional books, Christian Concert tickets, Christian CD's etc) as opposed to just stuff

4. Hang a stocking for Christ on your mantle

5. Make a time to pray for each family that you receive a Christmas card from

6. Start a tradition of visiting a homeless shelter or convalescent home as a family at Christmas time

7. Christmas Eve, as a family, act out the Christmas story

8. Include in your Christmas dinner a birthday cake for Jesus

9. Buy candy canes to randomly give away with the story of Jesus. (His shed blood and how our sins become white as snow)

10. Buy a baby item, wrap it and place it under the tree, dedicating it to the baby Jesus. Then donate the gift to a needy family.

Maybe some of these sound a bit corny and they probably are. I am sure that you could come up with some better ideas that perhaps you are already doing. I would love to hear them. But whatever we can do to get our focus back on Jesus and off the stuff will be a huge step in the right direction.

2 Timothy 2:4 says: "No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier"

Merry Christmas!