Holidays

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The Christmas season is here again. Doesn’t it seem like it gets started earlier and earlier each year? I recall an incident in Wal*mart in October when I noticed the pool supplies were moved to make room for Christmas decorations. That touched a nerve with me but it wasn’t until November arrived that a local radio station started playing Christmas tunes two weeks before Thanksgiving! I’m wondering if there should even be a Thanksgiving anymore. It seems that retailers want the Christmas shopping season to start sooner than the Friday after Thanksgiving. I refused to listen to any Christmas tunes until it was time to do so.

I’m not Mr. Scrooge. I like Christmas but I don’t like what Christmas has become. We have all these nice little clichés’ such as — Jesus is the Reason for The Season. That’s cute but if church falls on Christmas Day are we going to church? No, it’s about the gifts. The weeks ahead will be nothing about the real meaning of Christmas but the pursuit of that perfect gift.

I’m not against gifts but I think it has been overrated and Christmas has become prostituted by Satan. I’m wondering how long it will be until the ACLU or some lawsuit-hungry person will want to sue someone for spelling out Christmas because the word “Christ” is in it? I’m sure we are not too far off from that happening. We’ve already got people causing a fuss over cities displaying a nativity scene. But we can proudly display Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman and even the Grinch without any protest. Believe it or not but the Grinch didn’t steal Christmas. Satan has been working on it for years.

This weekend I was working on putting up the outdoor Christmas decorations. As I was placing the nativity scene, I was intent on making everything look even and in its place. To do this, I realized that I had to center everything with the manger. That’s when the thought occurred to me that we all should be centered on the manger. Our lives should be centered on the one that came to be our Savior. The Savior of the world came into this world to make a way for you and I.

The significance of this historical event has been diluted by the marketing plan of Satan. Instead of the baby in the manger, it has become centered upon the things that can be bought. Sometimes I would like to scream out in the mall for everyone to stop and acknowledge that Christmas isn’t about all this. Of course, I can’t scream that out in the mall or security would escort me to the nearest police precinct.

If we lived during the time of Jesus’ birth, would we have paid more attention to the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh rather than the significance of the Savior’s birth and what it meant to mankind.

So why did the wise men bring gifts? Why THESE gifts?

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped Him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."  Matthew 2:11

Of course we all know what the gifts were but why were these particular gifts given? You would think if these guys were truly wise that they would have brought some more blankets or something to make Mary and Joseph’s lodging at the stable more comfortable. The gifts they brought to Jesus’ first Christmas were more symbolic than practical.

Gold showed that they viewed this baby to be a royal ruler. Although Jesus didn’t have a birth in an earthly palace, the wise men knew that there was more significance to this baby than just what could be seen with the natural eye. The Bible doesn’t say how much gold was given or if part of this gift was also used to care for Jesus.

Frankincense was incense which was used in worship. The wise men were admitting that Jesus is worthy of worship. This could also signify that instead of the need to enter the temple by aid of a priest and incense burning that Jesus would become the temple. If we approach Jesus with the incense of worship then He would receive us.

Myrrh was prophetic in nature because this was a medicine which was used for healing. The wise men acknowledged that this child would be a great healer. Jesus is a healer in more ways than just physical. While He performed miraculous healings, He also forgives all of our sins.

Notice the first thing that the wise men did before they presented their gifts. They bowed down and worshipped him. Jesus didn’t need these gifts. The most precious gift the wise men gave was of themselves.

Today, Christmas doesn’t mean the same thing as it did on that first Christmas day. There were no mad rushes to the mall to buy last-minute gifts, no trees adorned with colorful decorations or children sitting on Santa’s lap reciting their wish lists. To the world there was nothing special about this day. Without the world’s fanfare and attention, God gave us the greatest gift. He gave His son to become the Savior of the world. Truly, there is joy to the world because the Lord has come but have we received Him as our King or are we pursuing material things to be the king of our lives?

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