and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2 NIV)
I am loving this Christmas devotional by Harvest Ministries. Today the discussion was about Xmas. I literally hate it when people use this term. I am not as upset when people use "Happy Holidays" . Using this term around our Jewish brothers and sisters or people from other faiths is understandable. But, really, if I use a "hearty" a Merry Christmas, how does that offend them! I'm not forcing them to believe, just greeting them out of my love. But the devotional didn't spend a lot of time debating these Christmas greetings. The point was: Shouldn't we be equally outraged at what our own Christian family has done with this holiday? I know very few Christians that don't promote the Santa Claus, reindeer, snow filled version of Christmas.
Instead of getting bent out of shape because someone uses Xmas or Happy Holidays, shouldn't we look at our own attitudes and celebration of this holiday? Manger scenes used to be prominent through out neighborhoods in our country. Go to your local Home Depot or Lowes or Meynards, you can't buy a manger scene. I even had difficulty finding an Angel, but I have one. We should work hard at keeping the true meaning of Christmas in the forefront of our lives. Manger scenes should replace snowmen, the star of Bethlehem should replace the Christmas wreath. The three wisemen should replace Santa Claus and jolly snowmen. We should take this time of year to Praise God openly with evey bone in our body, with every resource we have. To emphasize anything beside the birth of our savior weakens the beautiful gift of Gods son!
Join me in celebrating our saviors birth, not the joy of shopping, not the joy of Santa Claus, not the joy of snow fall or sleigh rides. The holiday is to celebrate the coming of God to live with us here on Earth! Praise God for his wonderful love.
Christmas Encouragement by Greg Laurie
Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries
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