Tuesday, December 12, 2006

About the commercialization of the holiday...

As I fret about getting my Christmas shopping done, I am reminded of these lines:

Jesus did not come here to earth to be marketed! He didn’t come so we could sell Christian devotional books. He didn’t come to have his name and face put on T-shirts. Jesus was not born into this world to stress us out about Christmas shopping or getting the house ready for big family gatherings! Jesus was not born into this world to sell Christmas trees or nativity scenes! In fact, God did not even give us his son to give us another holiday! The Jews had enough holidays on their calendar already! Now, I think it’s good to celebrate Jesus’ birth, but God didn’t send us his son just for that reason! Jesus didn’t come to be marketed as a celebrity!
 Jesus did not come into this world to sell us something, he came to give us something–a gift that no one could buy; a gift that no one could acquire on the basis of their status or influence; a gift that was given freely to all.
It’s free, but we all must empty ourselves of pride and status, reputation and accomplishments. You have to humble yourself, and approach the manger on bended knee in order to receive the gift that Jesus has to offer you–the gift of himself!
--From "Comments on the Shepherds & Charlie Brown's Christmas"