It's About to Be Christmas

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."—Luke 2:10,11.

Yes, it is about to be Christmas once again. Although there is always a bit of chatter about exactly what day of the year Christ was born, the fact is no one knows whether it was December 25 or some other day.

I've known two different men who were born in unusual circumstances in which there was no known record of their births. But since they had obviously been born, they picked out days for themselves and called them their birthdays.

Whether or not December 25 is the actual day of Christ's birth in Bethlehem, I'm just glad we have a day that is observed nationally and internationally by millions of people.

Let's Celebrate the Saviour

The Christmas celebration should be a salute to the Saviour. He was born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:22, 23), lived a sinless life (Heb. 7:25-27) and then paid the great price for our redemption in His death and resurrection (I Cor. 15:3, 4).

His whole purpose in coming to this earth was "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). He ascended up to Heaven (Acts 1:10, 11) after His resurrection and now sits at the Father's right hand advocating for us (I John 2:1, 2).

He alone can forgive our sin (Matt. 9:6), birth us into the family of God (Gal. 3:26) and reserve us a place in Heaven (I Pet. 1:3-5).

Yes, He and He alone can save us and deliver us to Heaven someday. For "neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Indeed, as Philip P. Bliss said in his song, "Hallelujah, what a Saviour!"

Let's Celebrate Wisely

Christmas is about Jesus Christ, not Santa Claus.

Christmas is a good time to tell Christ's story openly and seriously.

Christmas is a good time to be at church. Church is always good for us, but special seasons such as Christmas bring special blessings.

Christmas is not a time for alcohol and dope. It may flow freely all over town, but it should not do so at your house. Stay away from those Satanic snares at all times, including Christmas.

Christmas is not a time to go crazy on your shopping and overload your credit cards. Stay within the reasonable limits of what you can actually afford.

Christmas is a good time to spend time with your family. Everybody in the family needs to be gracious and kind to everyone else. The head of the house where family events are held should not allow unpleasant episodes to develop. If someone gets out of line, he should correct him and stop the thing before it becomes a major matter.

Christmas is a good time for giving. I love giving gifts to my loved ones. I love giving something extra to the Lord and His work.

If all of us would be focused on giving rather than getting, we would be blessed in so doing.

Let's Make Christmas Special This Year

In spite of your circumstances and even if your resources are limited, you can determine now to honor the Saviour and enjoy the celebrations of the Saviour's birth.

Let's not be greedy and let's not be cranky. Let's let the joy of the Lord flow from our innermost being and let the world about us know that we are saved, thankful, excited and happy.

Christmas will provide a generous format of opportunities, so let's make good use of them.

Since "It's About to Be Christmas," let me say as I will say often in December: I hope you have a blessed, merry Christmas.