How Would Jesus Like For Us To Celebrate His Birthday?
Copyright 2006 Angie Lewis - Heaven Ministries

 

The bible does not say anything about celebrating birthdays such as Christ’s birth, which has developed into what is now known as Christmas. I believe that since it is a celebration of our Saviors birthday, then I think we should ask Him how he would like for us to celebrate it.

I don’t believe that Jesus would much care for the giving and receiving of gifts among people a very productive way to celebrate His birthday. Jesus is actually very easy to please. All Jesus asks of us is that we come and walk with Him, whether it is His birthday or not.

The materialistic aspect of buying gifts and giving them to people that don’t need them or care about them is very unproductive. Besides, if someone needs something, why wait for Christmas to give it to him or her. Why not be a giver all throughout the year to those who are in need?

Since Christmas is supposed to be a time of giving then it is easy to appreciate the blessings of giving by showing others how much they mean to you in your life. That gift wrapped gold necklace and that HD Television with the big red bow around it are all great gifts to give and receive but the true spirit of Christmas is NOT with those things and never will be.

Ask yourself, would Jesus like for us to waste our money on stuff that most people don’t need in the first place? So in that respect, if we really want to buy presents for people for Christ’s birthday then we should use that money on things that some people can really use.  Jesus does not want for anyone to use up the last of their earnings on buying presents for people. How stressful can that be?

I’m not sure about the decorating of a tree with lights, stencil, and little trinkets very beneficial for the proper teachings of our Savior’s birth, but it does look pretty when well decorated. But the purpose of doing it has got me intrigued. The bible does not say a word about decorating a pine tree for Christ’s birth. I’m sure that through the years it has developed into a purpose of some sort, though. 

But remember that having a tree indoors with strings of lights on it is very dangerous and has caused many needless deaths from house fires. Keep your tree well watered so it does not dry out.

I don’t think that Jesus would care too much about people telling their kids some tale about a bearded fat old man who comes barreling out of a chimney shaft very productive teaching. It can actually be detrimental to their little psyches being told if they are naughty they won’t get any presents. It teaches children about how to love by placing conditions on that love, which is actually contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ. So I’m not sure what that is all about.

And what about those flashy lawn ornaments? What do these toy statues represent? On one side of a decorated lit house is a manger with the baby Jesus and the Kings, and on the other side of the lawn is santa clause and his reindeer. What kind of mixed message are we really telling our children? How is that an example of doing something productive for Jesus on His birthday?

Christmas is one of those times of year where people like to “feel” in the Christmas spirit, but when you hear someone say “Christmas spirit” what spirit are they really “feeling”?  What message are Christ Ones telling the world when they become stressed out from gift buying and shopping, or when they use their very last dime to buy someone an expensive gift they really do not need? Maxing out our credit cards to buy gifts and shopping until we drop is not contributing to anyone’s birthday, let alone the Savior of the world.  

Yes, Jesus is very easy to please, all he asks is that we keep Him within our heart and mind throughout the whole year, not just on His assumed birth-day.  Can’t we be materialistic gift givers anytime of the year? Yes, we can. We don’t have to wait for our Savior’s birth to give gifts to people, if that is what you like to do.

All I’m saying is this year, why don’t we try and be more like Jesus by walking beside Him. We can still have a pretty Christmas tree and we can still have wrapped gifts under the tree for the children to open but I also believe we need to get a little bit more creative with our gift giving and find ways to actually let people see Jesus within you so they may want to walk with Jesus too.