Christmas Means Christ

Several years ago my good friend and former visiting teacher, Sheilagh Jakins shared this article with me. I have managed to keep a copy with me. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the author or source. But I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

CHRISTMAS MEANS CHRIST

There could be no Christmas without the Savior.

It is true that ancient rites including the Yule log, the decorated tree, and the candles have come down through the centuries and are now a part of our celebration. But they do not really mean Christmas. They were pagan for the most part. Christ had nothing to do with them. They now almost crowd Christ out of our observance. Christmas cannot be Christmas without the Savior

When the angels sang on the first Christmas night, they sang Him and Him alone. The birth of the little Babe of Bethlehem was so significant that all the hosts of heaven rejoiced. They sang because they understood the mission of the Lord, what His redemption meant, what eternal life is, and the deep reason behind the Atonement and the Resurrection.

WE DO NOT celebrate Christmas in reality unless we have the same conception held by the angels -- that Christ is THE Son of God, that we are all the children of God, and that Jesus came into the world to lead us back into His presence.

In spite of all the worldliness and commercialism of Christmas, it is most noteworthy that the Spirit of Christ -- the real Christ -- literally comes through the air and touches every heart.

It is a recurring and constant miracle year after year. There is a different spirit in the atmosphere, in the feelings of mankind toward each other, and in the depth of our worship at Christmas time, It is God's way of sending a testimony into the world that Jesus of Nazareth is His Son, that the Atonement was accomplished and that it is indeed something to note with world-wide gladness.

IT IS MIRACULOUS, too the way in which Christmas carols express the true meaning of Christmas. Different as many of them are from the creeds of men, for most part, they teach the true doctrine of the Lord. He is the Son of God. He is the Savior. He came to give us life.

Modern compositions tend to bring other philosophies into some of the Christmas songs, but they can never crowd out the old carols which testify of Jesus as the Christ, the Redeemer, and Savior of all mankind.

As God each year projects His spirit into the world at Christmas time, we ourselves should seek to increase our appreciation of what this celebration means.

It is a sacred thing, this holy day, but it certainly is something to be celebrated also. The dictionary defines "celebrate" as "to extol, to glorify, to commemorate." We can do all of these things in our Christmas observance.

WE MUST SURELY extol the work of Christ, and the great fact that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son into the world to save it; and certainly we can glorify both the names of Christ and His Father.

And by all means we should commemorate the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem on that first Christmas night. Because we have the Lord we do all these things. We do extol Him and glorify Him and commemorate His birth and works.

BUT, HOW CAN we do these things unless we truly have the Spirit of Christ within us? And how can we have His Spirit unless we keep His commandments?

If we keep His commandments can we do other than love our neighbors as ourselves, do to others as we would be done by, eliminate hatreds and conflicts, forgive those who have offended us, visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world?

Every family -- and every individual -- this Christmas time -- should remember that part of our observance should include a humble prayer of thanks and devotion -- and of rededication to all that Jesus stands for.