Thought of the Day-12/23/2009

The Grinches that Steal Christmas
Written by Muriel Larson

What do you think of as Christmas draws near? Do you eagerly look forward to shopping for presents — and the gifts that you will receive? Do you enjoy shopping at big stores, and seeing all the decorations everywhere? Does your mouth water when you smell the turkey and the pumpkin and mince pies coming out of the oven? Can you hardly wait to eat turkey, sweet and mashed potatoes, and corn?

Do you have any time to think of the real reason for Christmas — our Lord Jesus Christ coming as a baby, and how the angels heralded His birth — and how He came to give His life for us that we may join Him in heaven someday?

Did you ever see that animated film on television, “The Grinch That Stole Christmas”? Well, I think that there are at least three grinches that can steal Christmas from us and the Son of God.

*Number One Grinch is Santa Claus.

This one sort of makes a god out of Santa Claus. After all, “he knows when we’ve been bad or good”– just as if he were God. Younger children eagerly await the gifts Santa will bring. This tends to take their eyes and thoughts off the greatest gift ever given: Jesus. Fairy tales are nice and I enjoyed them as I grew up. But really, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is no time for a fairy tale that presents itself as true, is it?

*Number Two Grinch is the world.

The non-Christian world has twisted the meaning of Christmas. Plays given at school used to be centered around the coming of Christ, the manger scene. Other plays like “The Grinch That Stole Christmas” have taken their place. They have stolen the real meaning of Christmas.

*Number Three Grinch is activity.

We have so much to do during the Christmas season that we have little time to think about Jesus. We have gifts to buy, trees to trim, relatives to visit, food to eat–lots of enjoyable things not wrong in themselves. But if they keep us too busy to think about our Lord Jesus then they “steal” Christmas, don’t they?

Now is a good time for all of us to determine in our hearts that we will not let the grinches steal the true Christmas spirit from us. How can we do that? During the season — and all through the year too — we can spend a minute or two each day thinking of the loving, compassionate Lord Jesus and what a difference His coming into this world has made in it and in our lives. We can praise God for the greatest gift possible, our Lord Jesus. Paul said, “Thanks be to God for his indescribably gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15, NIV).We may not be able to give the Lord Jesus Christ gold, frankincense, and myrrh, as the Wise Men did. But we can give Him our hearts and our time.

Questions: How can you cut back on activities and centre you thoughts more on the real meaning of Christmas? Tell us about one of your traditions at Christmas time that emphasizes the birth of Christ.