The Best Way To Celebrate Christmas
Author: Sis. Oluchi Nwankwo
Christmas season is an event worth celebrating. Praise be to God that we are witnessing another Christmas this year. But Christmas means different things to different people. A child was asked why she was so excited about Christmas and she said “because mum will buy me new clothes and I will have lots of rice and cake to eat”. Unfortunately, many adults share similar and other inglorious reasons for Christmas. But what does Christmas really mean to the believer? This understanding influences HOW we ought to celebrate it.
St. Paul pointed out in 1 Cor. 13:11 that “when I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me”. A child dwells more on the temporal than the eternal. Kids are usually attracted to glamour but not the gem. He/she is still a ‘baby’ who focuses more on the physical than the spiritual import of Christmas. They are children who still regard Christ today as the ‘babe’ in a manger, rather than the Saviour, Lord and Judge of all mankind.
Christ the Saviour was born to save us from sin (and its control & penalty) so that we should henceforth not serve sin. Herein is the new life which the Saviour gives to those who receive Him. This is the reason for Christmas; and the joy is for those who have experienced the new birth in Christ.
Notwithstanding all the fanfare, pomp and pageantry, if Christmas should be celebrated to honour Christ the ‘Celebrant’, then it has to be done the Christ-way, in a biblical manner, to the glory of God. In all our preparations for Christmas (these are listed below), let us focus on Christ, the very Reason for the Season. He shows us today, a more excellent way:
HOME: Your heart is His home. But what sort of ‘home’ are you preparing for the Lord and Master? “Jesus replied, if anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1st Cor. 16:19).
Christ seeks for accommodation, will you let Him in? “That Christ may dwell in your hearts” (Eph. 3:17).
HOUSE RENOVATION & DECORATION: The renovation and decoration the Lord expects from us this season is genuine repentance and the renewal of our mind. “ … A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” Ps. 51:17. “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” Hebrews 10:22.
Let us “… purge ‘our’ conscience from dead works to serve the living God” Hebs. 9:14.
LIGHTING: Christ is the light of the world and we are the light that brightens our environment. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:14-16)
FOOD: Any dishes for Christ? He is inviting you to feast on His word. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” Rev. 3:20. “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” Matt. 4:4.
DRINKS: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18)
CLOTHES: “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Roms. 13:14).
SHOES: “For shoes, put on the readiness to preach the Good News of peace with God” Eph. 6:15
PERFUME: “And walk in LOVE, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour” (Eph. 5:2). “… And four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the PRAYERS of saints (Rev. 5:8). Love, Prayers and Praises are good ‘perfume’ that attracts God’s presence!
ORNAMENTS: “Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning … But let it be the hidden man of the heart … even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price (1st Pet. 3:3-4). The best ‘dressed’ person this season will be one who adorns him/her self with a meek and quiet spirit.
GIFT: “He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity … he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness” (Roms. 12:8). Do not give at this time to win the applause of men, but of God.
Above all, the best ‘Birthday’ gift to Christ is to give ourselves wholly to Him. “And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again” (2nd Cor. 5:15).
These are indeed, the best way to celebrate this Christmas!
Sis. Oluchi Nwankwo, an Evangelist, Teacher and Preacher of the Word of God, writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria. She is an Associate Training Secretary of NIFES, on part time among Nigerian Christian students in tertiary institutions.
E-mail: Oluchi.S.Nwankwo
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” -Luke 2:13-14
Source : Sherry's Inspirational
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