Tis The Season

You all know the song, "tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la. For me it's more like blah blah blah. This time of year is quite depressing for me. I used to really get into the Christmas spirit, but as I have gotten older, not so much. I think it's because I cannot afford to. No, really, think about it. How much do you spend for your kids on Christmas? No take that number and multiply it by 5. Not to mention all the decorations. It is estimated that the average American will spend around $935 on Christmas each year. It also stated that the average credit card balance carried by those people is around $8,562. This is all according to the American Consumer Credit Council. That is crazy. The average American family was a husband, wife and 2.5 kids. I still want to see what that .5 kid looks like. Poor thing, must be tragic to be a average American kid, lol. All kidding aside though, how did we get here?

I don't want to get on one of those Jesus is the reason for the season, rants. I agree with that, but it is so cliche how we portray it to non Christians. I hate where this holiday has gone. It's no longer about celebrating the birth of a savior, it's about things. This ties into what I talked about yesterday. Your treasure is where your heart is. And for many of us this time of year it looks like our heart is on a shelf at Wal-Mart. Don't get me wrong, I love getting gifts, and I love giving gifts even more, and I have been caught up in the madness before. I mean my Black Friday record is flawless. No one was going to stop me from getting what I wanted. I saw a post on Facebook about Black Friday that I wanted to share. It seems to sum it up quite well.

Bottom line is, we all mess it up, and miss things that are truly important. That is why I am posting this today. First I think that it has helped me recapture what it is all about. It has always been about gifts being given, just not in the way many of us think. It was on that night that God gave us the most amazing gift that could be given. His Son!

Now think about this, those of you with kids, how many would be willing to give any of them up, knowing that they would be beaten, abused, spit on, battered, stabbed, and ultimately killed? I can stand in confidence knowing that not one of you raised your hand. It's a concept that we cannot grasp. Oh we have heard it time and time again. So many preachers and pastors have told it so many different ways, it's almost cliche', except its not. It really happened!

In my next few blogs, I am going to cover the Christmas story and try to break down the reality of how it applies to you.