I am reminded of the TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” as he bemoans the commercialization of the birth of Christ starting with Thanksgiving and who can set the most elaborate table followed by the most lit up house and front yard.
I grew up in a time when these holidays were about family and our Christian roots and ongoing faith.
Today, well, today it is not about any those things anymore. We use Facebook to send greetings and attempt to present a Christian face to family and friends, but, that is all it is, a face. No, we are out buying the biggest tree, the most lights, a bigger spread and forgetting our faith and our family. And those that do come to our tables are not being blessed in the body and spirit of Christ, but, in the latest gossip and trash talk. There is no forgiveness, no attempts to reach out in the name of Christ to find truth and heal real and imagined wounds.
We are bitter and angry over things we can’t or won’t put into words. We hold grudges because of gossip and rumors. And God help those who challenge the gossip and rumors.
So, here we are, ignoring the most important event since creation, reveling in self-righteousness unable to learn the lessons Scrooge and the Grinch did on just one Christmas.
Our thankfulness is unbelieved and hollow. Our hate is real and soul crushing.
There was a question I heared in my youth” “If you’re not as close to God as you were two weeks ago, guess who moved?”
Let us all use this Christmas to move back to God and His Son.
Have a Merry Christmas and may God Bless you and your family in the joy of His Son.