Please do not wish me "Happy Holidays". I will have to restrain myself from hurting you. Although the word "Holiday" does comes from "Holy Day" and that is what these days are. These are the days that we celebrate that lead up to one of the most important days in the history of the world. The day Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah or Chosen One, was born. And yes I know that December 25th is not really his birthday but some pagan day from the Celtics or something.
To me "Happy Holidays" is like a slap in the face of Jesus. They have taken Christ out of Christmas. It is no longer Christmas Vacation, like when I was a kid, it is Winter Break. Some groups fight to keep manger displays out of parks and other public places. Large retail stores tell their employees not to say "Merry Christmas" so that they won't "offend" people.
OK .. let me say this ... if you don't believe in Jesus, then you have no business celebrating Christmas!
How many people will feed the system and go into gross amounts of credit card debt, only to have those things be in the next garage sale or trash can?
"Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth where dust and moth destroy ... "
The phrase has become so cliche' but is still true, that Jesus is the reason for the season. The world wants to distract us from that truth. America has literally bought into the lie that the day we celebrate Jesus' birth, is nothing more than another generic holiday to spend a crazy amount of money on STUFF.
At our house, we don't do Santa ... I gave up the whole commercialized Christmas thing in my late teens/early twenties and decided that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and not mine. So I began giving presents to people about Jesus. This carried over into my marriage and now our family. For Christmas we give presents about Jesus ... like a Bible, a worship CD, a Jesus Tshirt, A Jesus video, or Veggie Tales, etc. and keep all the toys, electronics, gifts and STUFF for a birthday present. It has worked out so far for the first 13 years with our kids and I hope that they carry it into their own families some day. ♥
I have this idea ... lets turn it back around! Why not send a message to America loud and clear, that Christmas is about JESUS. Not Santa Claus, and toys and electronic gadgets, and STUFF and going into debt.
Could I make a suggestion? Keep it simple.
Put Christ back into Christmas. Celebrate it for what it is. And everytime someone says "Happy Holidays" smile and say,
"Merry Christmas ... it's all about Jesus."
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