Friday, March 21, 2014

Celebrating Christmas?

COME AND WORSHIP THE KING

Come and worship the King!

Luke 2:13,14... 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.

Matthew 2:11... And when the wise men were come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshiped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

There has been much debate over to celebrate or not to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The New Testament does not command believers in Christ to celebrate His Birthday.

He was without "birth", for He was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1.
Nevertheless, Jesus came into this world as Mary's baby.

Celebrating His birth is not required. But there is nothing wrong with celebrating it either, as long as we don't stay gazing at His empty crib. When we remember His birth we cannot help but think what He came for. We see the shadow of the cross right over His crib.

Beyond this, we know He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, in glory. We should make certain that we have the whole picture in focus; His birth, His death and His resurrection. We must also teach this to our children and imprint this on their minds.

Don't take offence at them that are of the world, for they don't know what they do. They have exchanged Santa Claus for Jesus Christ, so to avoid conviction. They throw noisy parties to quiet down the song of the heavenly choir and the cry of the cross. 

They go into extreme debts for presents to outdo the Gift of God. They can't handle the quietness from the stable and the piercing sound of the thunder, which comes from Calvary's hill.

The world has commercialized the birth of Jesus, and non-believers celebrate Christmas without Christ. But true followers of Jesus Christ do appreciate any opportunity to meditate upon the things of the Lord.
Let us therefore walk holy before His face in celebrating His birth, considering that He is on His way to return as the King of Kings.

1 Corinthians 10:31... Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or WHATSOEVER ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Colossians 2:16,17... Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holiday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Is it sinful to celebrate Christmas, have a Christmas tree or give or receive gifts? Why would it be sin? Do you bow down to the tree, or pray to it? Did you steal the tree? Do you place the tree above the Lord, in your heart? Did you buy or steal the presents? Does it make any difference if you give presents any other time of the year than on Christmas day?

I also have a small decorative tree in the corner of my sun room. Mind you, it is not a spruce, but still a tree. Do I apply Jeremiah 10 for having this tree in my house all year round?

Jeremiah 10... depicts the ways of the Heathen, them that don't follow, nor love the Lord. This cutting of a tree from the forest and decorating it with silver and gold shows the effort people make in creating their gods (idols). This refers to a "carved" image, for the such we shall not bow down, as in Exodus 20:4,5.

Decorating the tree with silver and gold shows to what extent the "Heathen" go, and the expenses they are willing to make.

Jeremiah 10:9... They (trees)are the work of skillful men.
This verse shows that the unbelievers have idols made by hands and the Lord warns us NOT to follow them, and that the Lord is the true God.

There is a far deeper meaning to idols, "trees cut by hand", than referring to Christmas trees. Trees cut by hand, as in carving, must NOT be taken literally as being the Christmas tree.

You don't bow down to the Christmas tree and worship it as an idol.

What about worshiping and bowing down before the "tube", with all the gory news, adulterous and worldly programs, movies, videos. 

What about idols of worldly magazines, sports, automobiles etc. Just to mention a few. These are modern idols. I dare to tell you that the previously mentioned idols are sinful, unlike having a Christmas tree.

Worldly people worship and indulge in watching television, and this is sin, allowing themselves to be contaminated by it. And even many believers do the same thing, they have adapted to this world and the things thereof. 

They have listened to the subtle whispering of their own heart and follow after the lust of the flesh. The Holy Spirit is grieved and the guidance of the Lord is gone. They have started to "play" church, while their emotions run rampant. 
THIS IS THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN as described in Jeremiah 10, which we must NOT follow.

It ALL boils down to this: LOVE THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER GODS BEFORE HIM. It is the condition of our hearts that must be aligned with God's will. Having a Christmas tree and celebrating Christmas has little to do with this.

1 Corinthians 10:23... All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.


If your heart does not condemn you and you glorify the Lord in the fact that Jesus came down to earth as a human being to fulfill His call on the cross at Calvary's hill, you are not sinning in celebrating His birth in the flesh. Neither do you sin in not celebrating His birth.

Don't let anybody condemn you, unless you start to celebrate it as the world does, without Christ. Shouldn't followers of Christ worship the Lord, our Savior any day of the year, which also includes December 25th? 

Shouldn't we worship Him for coming, dying, for His resurrection and His return? Even if the date coincides with a pagan celebration, it does not really matter, for you and your house are worshiping the 
Lord.

Colossians 3:17... And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.


Romans 14:5, 6... One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regards the day, regards it unto the Lord; and he that regards not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks.

I hope and pray that this article will help you to search your own heart and seek to please the Lord.

John 4:24... They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

BE BLESSED AS YOU WORSHIP THE LORD, YOUR GOD!

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" Luke 2:11


INSPIRATIONAL

This child just born, grew up a man
God's grace and mercy were His plan
He walked this road to bless us all
and came to save us from the fall
He spread His wings for our protection
He freed us through His Death and Resurrection


HALLELUJAH! PRAISE GOD!

Oh Holy Night, when Christ was born.

Copyright © Dr.Trudy Veerman, 1996-2014. All rights reserved

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