What Has Christmas Become?

As we look at Christmas approaching and I currently have lost my job and thus some financial security I am forced to stop and take a close harder look at Christmas.  We know as Christians its primary focus is the birth of our Savior into this world in which we are called to live in for now.  There is a problem though, especially in America today when it comes to celebrating Christmas.  This is a time of getting and giving gifts to each other.  Now do not get me wrong there is nothing wrong with giving gifts to others after all this is where the saying "It is better to give then receive."  This is unfortunate though in the fact that we are giving gifts for the most part to those that really do not need the gifts that we give.  For the most part it is about the kids who get up early Christmas morning to race downstairs to see what wonderful gifts that Santa has secretly delivered in the night as they slept, but that is another issue altogether.  All the electronic devices for the boys and dress up dolls for the girls that will consume most of their waking time until February when they get bored with them till the next new thing comes out and they just have to have it because they are bored with the old things.  So their birthday rolls around and we get them the next biggest and greatest item out there.  Who is really being glorified in all this?  It is not Christ it is the retail industry that reaps all the rewards and glory.  Christmas has become a materialistic commercialism holiday where the big companies such as Microsoft, Sony, Mattel, and all the retail stores such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Kohl’s, and Sears just to name a few, have been the ones that Christmas is all about.  Why do you think that everything these big companies do amount to the one big important day when a majority of their profits come?  They spend more time, effort, and money to this one holiday then any other throughout the year.

What as Christians are we to do?  Focus on Christ and not the world this and every Christmas.  This holiday is NOT about us or what we can get.  It is about the coming of a savior that gave up everything to come to a hostile world that would ultimately and viciously take His life through lies and treachery.  This Christmas lets ask ourselves "What are we willing to give up?"  Are we willing to give up a seat of power over all others?  Are we willing to leave our homes?  Are we willing to go into a world that we are not accepted for the most part and be ridiculed and despised?  Lets make it a little simpler.  Are we willing to leave our comfort zone if only for a day and reach out our hands to help the broken, knowing that at the end of the day we can return to that comfort zone?  If you cannot answer yes to that it is time to look at whom we have really become.  Are we conforming to Christ's likeness?  Shouldn't we be?  What have we become?  Why are we so selfish?  Is this what Christmas has become?

I challenge you to get up out of your comfort zone, reach out your hands to the broken and glorify the Christ that did that very thing for you so that you may have a life eternal.  How are you going to show your love for the very person that came to this world for you and gave His life for you?  How are you going to celebrate Christ this Christmas?  Are you going to celebrate Christ this Christmas or the world and your own selfishness?  The choice is yours.  I pray that you can glorify Christ in your decision.