Is it me or is Santa getting too much attention this year? Now, I’m not terribly fanatical about the Christmas holiday- hey, I hang a tree, I buy gifts just like most folks.
But it seems to me that Jesus (the Original reason for the season) is getting a bit lost in “X-mas” this year, don’t you think?
This is an old argument, I know, but this is a conversation that should never die. We, as Christians, should keep squawking until some things change around this time of year.
This year, take advantage of traditions and other opportunities to remind your family of Christ and His magnificent sacrifice for man.
Here are a few ideas to help you keep Christ in Christmas:
1. When you trim the tree, sing a Christmas carol that focuses on Jesus. Playing a cd will do as well.
2. Before you open your gifts, have a prayer of thanks. Encourage each family member to participate.
3. Remind your children why we give gifts on Christmas (aka Christ’s gift to mankind). They may not “get” it.
For years now, a family tradition of ours is to have a Bible study on Christmas morning. We usually do it after we’ve opened our gifts. I could never imagine doing one before opening the gifts because our little wind would have a conniption fit. Seriously, it is one of the sweetest times of the year for me.
Each person in our family takes turns leading to Bible study. When the little one’s Time came, we simply let him tell us why he was thankful for Jesus or something easy like that.
But when our oldest son would lead the family Bible study, I often saw how he was growing spiritually year by year. Instead of just spouting universal truths, he began to give examples about whatever text he was teaching. It really was something to see.
Also, I found myself learning from him. No matter how well you think you know the Bible, you can always learn something from someone else because they all have a different perspective than yours. This includes our children.
This was my husband’s idea and it’s one of the sweetest traditions we espouse.
I have never really cared much for the whole Santa Claus phenomenon. But actually it has its roots and salad Christianity.
I was watching a show on the Biography network. Strangely I think it was on antenna TV or the non-Cable station. Old movies make me smile so I often will shift off my cable and watch antenna TV just to get my 70s television show fix.
Anyway, one episode was on Santa Claus. I learned that Saint Nick was a Christian man who gave GIFs away and was known for his generosity. According to an article from Crosswalk.com, the apostle Paul could be related to Saint Nick. That’s neither here nor there, but I thought that was interesting.
It seems Saint Nicholas morphed into a variety of images throughout the generations. So although he had his origins with Christianity, it turned into something else.
There are so many historical articles about this subject that you don’t need me trying to educate you on it. What I will do is list some articles you can refer to and read.
In the end, the purpose of this blog post is to reiterate the importance of keeping Jesus Christ the meaning of Christmas.
Keep Him the focal point of the Christmas season and you may not opt to kill Santa, but you’ll keep him in his place. Chump.
Do you allow your children to believe in Santa? How do you approach it?
Articles about the origin of Santa Claus:
The Legend of Santa Claus: Part 1. The Origin and History of a Christmas Legend
From St. Nicholas to Santa Claus: the surprising origins of Kris Kringle
I’ve certainly see it go both ways, some people are gung-ho Santa and others are anti-santa….personally, we don’t “do santa” in our house, and I’m not particularly offended by people who do, although I think they are missing out on what celebrating this time of year can be about for them. Honestly, we don’t even exchange gifts, although we do have a tree. It’s a whole lot like thanksgiving, a time of year when we get together, cook and bake our hearts out, share lots of love and laughter, silly games and stories, and most importantly celebrate the birth of our Saviour. Talk about no pressure, this time of year is always super chill for us. Instead of exchanging gifts, we try to do whatever we can for others in need, like the local homeless shelter and communities that are struggling here or overseas. Places like world vision have a catalog where you can buy mosquito nets, a cow, goats and chickens, farming kits, medicines, things like that – I just wanted to teach my kids that this time of year we try to do a little more for others than we already do. Granted my kids are REALLY young (2 1/2 and 9 months) but hopefully this tradition will continue to grow. Now my parents can’t seem to resist buying my kids something, and a few of the aunts/uncles do the same, and that’s ok by me too – ultimately, I just want there to be no pressure or stress when it comes to stuff like that and just to be together, to celebrate the One who came to redeem us, the Love of Our Father who sent Him, and a chance to do a little more for others around us….in any case, God Bless you now and always and Merry Christmas to you, may you have a sacred and beautiful time of worship and celebration of our Saviour!