A culture Christmas is cold, commercialized and calculated. Everyone is all about the bottom line financially. How much will retailers make this year? Profit margins and being in the black are the most important aspects of a culture Christmas. No wonder it leaves non-Christians feeling cold and wanting.
To lean heavily on the mere traditions of Christmas is to miss the mark and to miss the meaning. If we are so wrapped up in the “doing” part of Christmas, we miss the “being”, the present that God wants for all of us to receive. He wants us to see His Son, Jesus. Celebrate His birthday and be grateful that He came to save the world. There is no greater gift than that. No new technological gizmo can top that!
A culture Christmas will have you on an emotional “high” for just a little while, getting all wrapped up in the glitz and glitter, the rushing and the flitting here and hurry there. It is fun and folly for a short time. Unfortunately, the result of that sort of celebration leaves you empty inside. When you indulge the carnal folly of Christmas, you end up with an empty soul and a sad credit card statement. Most people just over-spend and it takes the rest of the year to get the debt paid off – if it gets paid off.
There’s a better way to approach Christmas. It begins with pure simplicity and a level logic. It’s not based on external folly, but internal wisdom that will rule your heart. It is not a fleeting happiness, but a deep sense of peace and joy that will remain in your heart long after the last Christmas decoration has been put away for the year. Christ Himself wants to inhabit your heart and fill you will joy unspeakable and full of glory. He alone can replace the carnal desires with real peace and contentment that allow you to see beyond all the frills and fluff of a culture Christmas – to a personal celebration between you and Him.
For a Christian, Christmas is simply Thanksgiving all over again. We keep the same attitude of gratitude, adding our eternal thanks for the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. While we know that His birth is what we are celebrating, many of us also have a Christmas tree and exchange gifts. The difference is that we know in our hearts that God gave us the greatest gift of all, Jesus! ❤
HEART HUNGER 