Have you ever seen someone use the abbreviation "X-mas"? Does it disturb you the way it does me? Some may ask, "why does that bother you?" I'm glad that you asked. It's the "X". We use that symbol to mean that something is being removed. In this case, the thing being removed is the very "thing" that is central to this specific holiday... Christ!
"So what's the big deal, why does it matter?" This is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of the messiah, Jesus. Jesus being God, who stepped down from Heaven to take the form of a man. He chose to be born like every other human being, go through childhood, adolescence (and all of the awkward changes that go with it), temptation, peer pressure, pain (physical and emotional), ridicule and abuse so that we would know that he can relate to us and everything that we go through as humans. Not only that, but He came into this world for the expressed purpose of being the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. No other man in history has ever done so much for the human race!
From the beginning, sin required the shedding of blood for forgiveness. God knew exactly what He would have to endure (to get a grasp on his suffering, I recommend watching The Passion of the Christ. Excellent portrail of what the Bible describes that Jesus went through), and He did it anyway. That is how much he loves His creation, you and me.
Every time that someone uses "X-mas", or focuses their Christmas celebration on gifts and "goodwill" or ignores it all together, they metaphorically slap Jesus in the face and tell Him that His sacrifice means nothing to them. We shouldn't be afraid of offending anyone, as I said, this is a Christian holiday. I'm not saying that gifts and "goodwill" are bad and should be scrapped, but they should not be the focus of the celebration. The focus should always be on Jesus and His predicted virgin birth.
Yes, I said predicted. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that foretold not only that He would come, but how and where and Jesus met every single prediction. The birth of Jesus is special, not because He was a great man, but because he is the son of God.
So let us remember the reason for the season and sing Gloria, en excel sis deo: Glory to God in the highest! And may each and every one of you have a very Merry Christmas!
I would like to add a side note here... Stores make a lot of money off of our holiday, the least that they could do is to declare "Christmas sales" rather than "Holiday sales". If they are going to make money off of our God, then they should at the least have the courage to say the name of the one that they profit off of. And if they can't bring themselves to do that, then we should take our money somewhere that will.
Great post. I really enjoyed reading the posts on your blog. I would like to invite you to come on over to my blog and check it out. God's blessings, Lloyd
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