“Happy Holidays”…what? Uh…”Happy Holydays”? Well, that’s a little better. How about “MERRY CHRISTMAS”??? It really frosts my pumpkin to hear happy holidays. Sure some say that this time of year was a pagan holiday long before Christmas- so what? It isn’t now, and hasn’t been for hundreds of years.
Christmas 2010 is here this weekend. We hustle, we bustle and we shop until we drop. Sadly, so many of us seem to ignore the true reason for the celebration. The birth of Our Lord Jesus. My pastor has some good thoughts about the commercialization of Christmas. If I remember correctly, he says that it is really a cool deal when everyone, no matter HOW they do it, is celebrating Jesus’ birth. I must agree.
For this weekend’s column, I could find no more appropriate words than these: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.” (NKJV)
The words are there and we read them… but do they sink in? God’s Son was born… not in a palace, but in a barn. We love barns in Tennessee, but would we want our kids to be born there? Little Jesus, Son of the Most High God…in a cradle. It strains our imagination, but the written record is there. All we need do is believe.
Merry Christmas to all and May God Bless us - everyone.
Send your questions or comments to: Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
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Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.
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