A Christmas Thought
By Nathaniel Fields
What is Christmas? A time of giving gifts, racking up credit card debt, disappointment and giant meals? Or is it the one time of the year when people decide that they need to be kind so they drop some change in the Salvation Army bucket. Why do we put so much emphasis on December 25th? Children learn early on that they need to start to behave in September if they want to get that special toy. After months of planning and sucking up to parents, all of the anticipation is spent in less than an hour. Then, it’s time to plan for next year. Those toys we “just had to have” are now broken and the kids are crying about not wanting to go to bed. The parents are exhausted and just want to sleep. Then, the 26th comes. We put so much stock on this one day that, when it’s gone, we feel lost. Now what? Sure, we can look forward to the end of the year but, honestly, who cares anymore. School starts back up soon which brings homework and frustration. People are no longer in good moods because they now have to put a second mortgage on their house to pay for that one “special” day. Why? We have lost the true meaning of Christmas. No, even most of the Christmas movies have it wrong. It is not to bring joy to the rest of the world or spend time with family or turn over a new leaf. Those are all important but they are not the true meaning of Christmas. The true meaning is that The One and Only God sent His Son down to live among us and we set aside one day out of the entire year to celebrate and thank Him.
I know you may be thinking, “He is so naïve, he doesn’t even know that Christmas started out as a pagan holiday.” Actually, I did know that. Christmas did in fact begin as a horrible Roman festival filled with murder and unmentionable evil. The Christians of Rome stole the holiday, in an attempt to convert the Romans. “Yeah,” you may say “But did you know that Santa was real too?” Yes, I did know that. But that is still not the true meaning of Christmas. The true meaning is this:
God had promised His people for centuries that, one day, He would send to them a Savior. This man would be born of the lineage of the great King David and would rescue God’s people. That day finally came. A man named Joseph and his fiancée Mary were very surprised to learn that Mary was pregnant. She was supposed to be a virgin, the only explanation had to be that she had been disloyal to her betrothed. In those days, adultery was punishable by death. All Joseph had to do was say the word and Mary would be stoned. He couldn’t do it though; he loved Mary and trusted her. An angel appeared to Joseph and told him that Mary had not betrayed him; she was still a virgin and the baby was God’s Gift to the world. Joseph listened and believed. He hid Mary away until it was time to pay his taxes. Mary was due at any time but the law said that one must return to ones home country to pay ones taxes. So they journeyed to Bethlehem. When they arrived, Mary went into labor. They tried to get lodging in an inn but there was no room. They were forced to go to the stable instead and Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ. She wrapped Him in rags from the stable and laid Him in a manger. You all know this story. The shepherds see a star and angels sing. Then two years later, Jesus is visited by Wise Kings who bring him gifts. The boy called Jesus grew and matured. When he was twelve years old, he was already wiser than the scribes and prophets in the synagogues. When Jesus became a man of thirty he began his ministry, lasting a brief three years, where he healed the blind, crippled and sick. He even brought people back from the dead and cast demons out of men. Then the day came where he laid down His life to save us all from sin. He was beaten and whipped. He was nailed to a wooden cross, naked and humiliated. He was God and yet he let mere humans destroy his earthly body. It was all for us. All for you. That is the true meaning of Christmas. One God. One Gift. Just ask and ye shall be forgiven.
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