Commercial Christmas

You had better hurry! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. If you want to get a jump on things, you should go ahead and start decorating with hearts & doilies today! I know you’re still munching on Thanksgiving turkey and the Christmas tree just got plugged in for the first time. But, apparently that’s perfectly OK. Now is the time to start thinking ahead and begin buying roses, cards & candy for February.

It seems that every year the marketing starts flying at us earlier & earlier. Nowadays, you can begin stocking up on glitzy ornaments and overpriced wrapping paper in late September at some stores. If you’re a shopoholic or just like maxing out credit cards, then Commercial Christmas has your name written all over it!

Many battles have been fought over the last couple of years about calling this time of the year the ‘Holiday Season’ instead of ‘Christmas’. The reason: to make room for other faiths & winter celebrations and to keep from offending some with the name of Christ. But I wonder, if people are really not going to keep Christ in ‘Christmas’ in the truest sense, would it actually be better to just call it the ‘Holidays’? After all, if this time of the year has been boiled down to songs about Santa, slick marketing ads, flashing outdoor lights and enticing buy-one-get-one-free-sales, would Jesus really want his name associated with it?

We’ll soon begin hearing people talk about ‘the true reason for the season’. You mean it’s not about checking off items from my consumer wishlist as family, friends & coworkers spend more money than they have on things I don’t really need? Hmmmm…. Then what IS the season all about?

It’s about a baby.

But, not just any baby – the God baby. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Deity submitting Himself to wear skin for awhile. Royalty choosing to experience our poverty. Light piercing the darkness. Perfection willingly immersing himself in the stench and decay of a sin-tainted world. Glory veiling itself. Holiness dwelling among filth. The Author of creation wrapped in swaddling clothes, GOD asleep in a manger.

It’s about grace.

It’s about love. It’s about our need. It’s about the Savior invading our world. It’s about Christ. And it doesn’t matter what it’s called if followers of Jesus will set apart God in our hearts this season.

“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” I Peter 3:15.

Will you keep ‘Christ’ in your Christmas?