A Great Christmas Tradition – Give Jesus What Is In Your Heart
The 25th of December is only a few days of way, which means Christmas is almost here. This is an exciting and festive time of the year, especially here in my native Trinidad and Tobago as the sweet sound of parang music fills the air every where you go. Unfortunately, most people seemed to have forgotten what Christmas is really about. Our local parang music – like Christmas carols – once focused on that joyous night, that Holy Night, when Jesus Christ was born; however due to heavy commercialism now sing on almost everything under the sun, and all in the name of Christmas.
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Parang – A Christmas Tradition in Trinidad
We have also gotten so wrapped up in the Christmas tradition of giving gifts and the worldly side of things, that we have shifted our focus away from the birth of Christ. Not saying that it is wrong to give and receive gifts, sang Christmas songs and parang, and put up trees, but we must remember that this season is supposed to be about the greatest man who ever lived being born Jesus Christ. the Word of God in St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians tells us “All things were created through Him and for Him.” (Col 1: 17) Therefore all that we do should be done in that order and with this in mind. When ever we do things “out of order”, without putting God first, that is when problems start. Our Christmas tradition must start with Jesus Christ.
I do not know of anyone who would be happy with having a birthday party, pay caterers for all the food and drink to celebrate with a lavish banquet; have invitations specially done up, only to have most of their guest come and pay them scant courtesy. I am sure if that were to happen to you, you would be very upset. You will never forget that day for as long as you live. Yet the Son of God has come into this sinful world as the Lamb of God, and on the day set aside to celebrate this, we do not even acknowledge Him. We sometimes even malign Him with our so-called Christmas tradition.
The commercialization of Christmas has lead many devout religious groups to avoid the celebration of Christmas. Some have gone as far as declaring a war on the celebration of Christmas because it has been deemed as paganistic. While that may seem a little extreme, it is understandable why these religious groups feel this way. Even among our congregation, the true meaning is being lost as we wish each other “happy holidays” and send out “XMas” cards to friends and relations. We have allowed the enemy to masquerade himself as an angel of light, and that distort the true meaning of Christmas.
Fortunately, there are ways that the true servants of Christ, can can keep him in Christmas. As Christians we are to avoid the world and ways of the world as much as possible, and that includes its Christmas tradition. We must be in the world but not of it. One way that families can keep Christ is Christmas is by studying scriptures. The books in the Bible that focus on the nativity are the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke. Not only is this a great way to
learn about Jesus, but it is also great for family bonding during Christmas. Another way to keep Christ in Christmas is to decorate the home with the focus on Jesus. Instead of worldly decorations, a family might opt for a manger, a baby Jesus, and sheep as decorations. Additionally, Christians are supposed to continuously spread the Good News of Christ. This is a great way to keep the focus on Him during this Christmas season. Earlier, I spoke of a birthday party. A really beautiful and powerful way of keepingJesus in the celebration of Christmas is through prayer and meditation during Advent, think about what birthday gift you would like to give to Him for His birthday. The obvious one is to say, “O, I’ll give him my heart.” While that is fine and good, what about giving His the unforgiveness in your heart? What about the bitterness you’ve carried for so many years towards that person who hurt you so bad that you never thought you would ever be able to forgive them? What about that family member you have not spoken to for years? What about the rebellious child? You may be thinking, ‘what kind of gifts are these to give to Jesus?’ Well remember that He came that we may have life and life to the full (John 10: 10), and while we may give Him our ‘hearts’, there is so much hurt and pain in them, that we exist, not as free sons and daughters, but as shackled prisoners, and Jesus wants so badly, to set us free because He loves us so very much. So He will gladly accept these gifts if it will set us free. Maybe, you can write these down and put them in sealed envelopes, just as a child would write a letter to Santa, and on Christmas day, when you gather as a family, pray as a family offering these letters up to Jesus, then burn them. What a beautiful and powerful Christmas tradition this will be. Maybe this is something you may want to encourage your parish priest to include in the Christmas celebration, where these letters are gathered separately, offered up to God through Jesus and then destroyed. I guarantee you that you will have a truly merry Christmas.
As our world becomes more and more materialistic, it becomes more of a challenge to focus on Jesus during anytime of the year, let alone Christmas. However, if we seek Him with all our hearts, all our minds and all our souls, then living the Gospel of Jesus Christ will become just like breathing, where we do not have to think about it. We just do it. We just live it. As Christians, we have to constantly be stewards for Christ and keep Him in Christmas and in every aspect of our being. That old Christmas song challenges us to keep on doing the “Christmas things” all year through. After all, He is the real reason for the season. We have to stop focusing on buying and getting flashy gifts, and focus our attention on the Gift that has no price, Jesus Christ. When we learn to live this way, the joy, the love and the peace of Christmas will overflow our lives, not just at Christmas time but all year through.
May God richly bless you with His peace.
