My niece was born on September 11th; it’s a shame that she can’t celebrate her birthday.

You know- becuase of THE September 11th. She was born years after it happened, and of course had nothing to do with it- but, you know, it wouldn’t be right.

Sounds silly, doesn’t it?

That’s how I feel when I hear that Christmas is a “pagan” holiday. The pagan holidays that are associated with December 25th, Saturnalia and Sol Invictus, were created and celebrated long before Christianity and long before Jesus’ birth. Rome actually introduced Christmas to believers in Jesus as an alternative, for them to worship and celebrate without partaking in the pagan celebrations. (And some will say to sway others away from the pagan practices as well.)

Jesus was born long after these pagan practices and celebrations were established. Can we not celebrate it because of that? If so, someone better tell my niece that she can’t celebrate her birthday anymore.

Also, early Christians believed that Mary was told on March 25th that she would give birth to Jesus; so if we do the math- 9 months would be December 25th. Obviously we don’t know that to be true either, but it does give us some insight into why we as Christians celebrate on December 25th. We can also make the correlation to the Jewish holiday Hanukkah (held in late December) and Jesus… a Jew… well, you get it.

To say that it is a “pagan” holiday is a blanket statement that has no true basis.

“But… Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th!”, says the anti Christmas believer. Probably not… you’re right. But does that really matter? I don’t think so….. back when I was in college I would celebrate my birthday in May, although it was in June, because the semester ended in May and I wanted to celebrate with my friends. The intention was the same, it just wasn’t on the “actual” day. Does that make the joy, the excitement, the gratitude and the love that occurred invalid? Absolutely not. The intention was pure, and we strengthened our relationships because of our sincerity of our hearts.

“But we should celebrate Jesus’ birth everyday.” Yup. Absolutely true, we should. But the connection to other believers and the power of collective worship and adoration is unmatched and indescribable, and having a day (and season) that we all focus on it is extremely powerful! I was reminded of that this afternoon, when I looked around the sanctuary of church and saw hundreds of people together, focused on Jesus, His eternal gift to us, and the powerful connection we all had to each other in an incredibly intimate moment with our King. We absolutely should celebrate it and appreciate it every single day; we must acknowledge the impact and influence of collective worship, which is why Christmas is so powerful for believers when the intentions are in the right place.

“But it’s so materialistic, and stressful, and all about spending money and expecting gifts.” Well, that is true. This kind of mindset and attitude is what the world wants and expects- not what Jesus does. Again, it’s all about intention, and although about 96% of America celebrates Christmas, unfortunately a good part of them don’t focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Is that a reason to not celebrate? Absolutely not! It is a HUGE reason to celebrate and share the TRUTH; that God sent His only begotten Son to this world to take on all of the pain, suffering and sin for US so that we can have eternal life with Him!

“But the Bible doesn’t tell us to celebrate it…. so we shouldn’t.” Well… the Bible also doesn’t talk about electricity, cars, the internet, Facebook and pizza… but, here we are! My point is, the Bible doesn’t say we SHOULDN’T. In fact; the Bible says in Luke 2:13-14, “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” Amen! Well, if the angels and heaven can celebrate the birth of our beloved Messiah, why shouldn’t we?

I could go on, but, I post this to remind you all that intention is everything! God knows our hearts, and knows the motives behind what we say, what we do and how we lead our lives. If we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, it is a beautiful thing. The presents don’t matter; the cards and cookies are nice, the lights are fun to look at and carols are nostalgic and joyful. But if Jesus isn’t forefront on your HEART, it’s all just another day full of manmade tradition.

None of us deserve to get into heaven. NONE OF US. But because of Jesus… because He came to this world to die for you and for me, we have the opportunity of eternal life in the presence of the Almighty God… THAT is the Best. Gift. EVER.

Satan wants us distracted, and he loves when Christians and believers bicker over the validity of Christmas and the “rules” of everything- including Christmas- becuase it takes our attention off of Jesus. Satan doesn’t want the focus to be on Jesus, because Jesus defeated death for us, and the less we look to the King, the happier Satan is. Don’t give him the pleasure.

So, all this to say, Merry Christmas to you all… much love to you and yours! Take the time to focus Jesus, and the magnitude of what He has done for us. He truly is the one and only reason for the season!

#merrychristmas #grateful #thankful #christmas #beMORE #doMORE #inHIM