Jesus is the reason for the season

Not too long ago, I had an interesting conversation with my dentist.  The two of us got into a conversation about the impending Christmas holiday.  In the course of our chat, she stated that she wasn’t giving gifts this year, nor was she expecting her family or friends to get her anything.  She didn’t say whether this was for financial reasons or some other reason (and I didn’t think to ask), but I did say to her, “Well, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus anyway.”

This dentist is not alone.  I saw a segment on a TV news program that asserted that 45 percent of Americans are not going to be participating in the usual gift giving festivities this Christmas, primarily because they don’t have the money to do so.

As I said to my dentist, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.  It concerns me how we get ourselves so busy fighting the crowds in search of “the perfect gift” that we forget that Christmas is about Jesus, not the purchasing of gifts to be given every December the 25th.

To be clear: there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving gifts away on Christmas.  The Bible says that it’s a good thing to give (Acts 20:35).  I can vouch for the great blessing that comes from giving to others, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year.  It’s a wonderful benefit to take your eyes off of yourself and to put them on others.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with choosing to exchange Christmas gifts.  

Having said all this however, it’s important to remember what the late Dr. Adrian Rogers once said.  He said that the greatest gift is not found under a Christmas tree; the greatest gift is Jesus Christ Himself!  Why did Rogers say this?  I think it’s because a lot of us get stuck on the image of Jesus as an infant in a manger.  We forget that Christ actually grew up.  He had a mission that He obediently carried out: to die a substitutionary death on the cross of Calvary for you and for me.

Every human being on the planet has a problem: sin.  1 John 1:8 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  Fritz Ridenour in his book “So What’s the Difference?” (this is a book that contrasts various worldviews with Christianity) writes, “When Jesus Christ – God incarnate – died on the cross, He rendered satisfaction to God’s holy standard and paid the penalty for the sin of all mankind.”  All one has to do now is put their faith and trust in Jesus alone to save them.  Galatians 1:16: “Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law” (NLT).

Kevin