Today's devotional mentioned that in some parts of the world, people give and receive gifts on December 6th rather than the 25th so that they can spend the rest of the month focusing on God and His gift. I'd never heard of this, but it seems like a great idea.
A week ago, my sister Julia mentioned that she never heard any Christmas carols on the radio anymore this time of year--it was all "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Santa Baby" and "All I Want for Christmas is You," and that made her sad. Our culture's done a fantastic job of squeezing God and Jesus out of Christmas, and it's pretty sickening.
I shouldn't be shaking my head so vigorously, though. I'm guilty of forgetting the reason for the season many times. I get so caught up in buying presents and seeing family that I forget about what Jesus did so long ago. Hah, and then I wonder why I don't feel like I'm in the Christmas spirit. Maybe it's because I'm neglecting the true Christmas spirit.
This Christmas, I'm going to make more of an effort to focus on God. He's pretty good about helping people do things He wants them to do, so I'm sure God will keep me on the right track.
Oh, by the way, if you ever want to read Our Daily Bread, the devotional I often reference, the link is in the sidebar.
2 comments:
everyday is a celebration of God's great gift... everyday is Christmas!! :) glad to see you're doing well, Rich. miss you. visit???? :)
Miss you too! I am going to try to visit soon, but I think the next time I'm available is after you've all left for Christmas break. I'm done on the 18th...will you still be around then?
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