Yet, for some reason, this has always bothered me. Just as we celebrate our own birthdays, we should also celebrate the main event...Jesus coming to earth. I can agree with that. However, there are a couple of problems I'm experiencing. Do we really KNOW what day His birth was? Sure...don't be petty, Mary. Of course, we don't know the EXACT day, that's why we chose a day ourselves to celebrate. Okay...I can go with that.
Yet, the saying, "Jesus is the reason for the season" has taken over to a new level of focused opinion. I'm about to walk into deep water here...but I believe we Christians have vicariously made Christmas superficially about this. I say "superficially" because we can't seem to stop trying to please people with our "gifts". Christmas has become a dreaded experience for most of the people I talk with in any given week. And they are the ones that say, "Jesus is the reason for the season." Jesus has become our excuse rather than our freedom.
I do know there are people that love God/Jesus/Holy Spirit with a love that comes from a deep part of their being. So why does the season overtake us with dread? May I submit that it's partially because we don't have the fortitude to say, "ENOUGH!"?
Don't get me wrong. Gift giving is really gratifying. I feel so very blessed to have reached a place that we can give without pain in the offering. (Which in itself is contradictory to satisfaction). But what about those that can't give? Does it cause them to feel less than acceptable? If "Jesus is the reason for the season", why must we put others in a head lock, forcing them to either go into debt or crumble under the pressure of non-gift giving? Maybe we could ALL just get back to the real reason for the season. Just a thought...
The truth? Jesus is the reason for ALL seasons.
Now that we've established that...couldn't we also say gift giving is for ALL seasons? Why must the last month of every year be a burden that would take our eyes off celebrating the main event? Jesus, coming to earth, to satisfy the weary, the broken hearted, defeated and in-need-of-a-saviour, person?
Yes, Jesus is the reason for all my seasons. And He has called us all to reach the lonely, the broken, the desperate, the weary...in all seasons.
So, could we just say it like it is? Christmas time is the time many substitute love for bitterness. If Jesus really is the reason for our season, why aren't our hearts filled with joy? With celebration? With expectation? "Oh come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant. Oh come ye, oh come ye, to Bethlehem."
Just a thought...please don't stone me.
Here you will find me, in Mary's World!
