My Christmas Blessing by Sharon K. Connell

Well... the season is upon us. I can hear the groans and moans from all over the world. The hustle and bustle at this time of year leave many cold and unwilling to get into the spirit of Christmas. Is this you? It doesn’t have to be.

Most of us know the twenty-fifth of December probably isn’t the day when our Lord Jesus Christ was born. No one knows the exact date. We know from the Scriptures He was born while shepherds kept their sheep outside.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people;” Luke 2:8-12 KJV

So that dispels the myth.

Let me lay to rest an old argument I’ve heard for most of my saved life. That old dispute about it was too cold in December for shepherds to keep sheep outside all night. It was not. First of all, sheep are covered in wool. Shepherds would also have been covered in wool outer garments as well as having wool blankets to keep them warm. Also, Jerusalem’s daily low temperatures in December range from 48 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit, rarely falling below 37 degrees. So that dispels the myth.

So, was December 25th our Lord’s actual birthday after all? I truly doubt it. When I was a leader in the Boy Scouts, I did in-depth research on holidays for one of our programs. One of the holidays was Christmas. It was a real eye-opener.

From the Encyclopedia Britannica site today, you can read how the church in Rome began celebrating Christmas on December twenty-fifth in the year 336. It was during the reign of the emperor Constantine when he made Christianity the effective religion of the empire. It was done most likely to weaken the established pagan religions of the day. This bears out with many of the other places I researched on the date. They couldn’t get the pagans to stop worshiping their false gods, so Rome turned the worship into one of Christ’s birth.

Does this mean we shouldn’t celebrate Christmas? Not necessarily. Focus on these verses from God’s Word.

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:” (Colossians 2:16 NKV).

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.” (Romans 14:5-6 NKJV).

Now... getting back to my Christmas blessing. I went back and forth about this problem, listening to one set of Christians who said a true believer shouldn’t have anything to do with the celebration of Christmas and then listening to others who said they were celebrating the birth of our Lord, regardless of whether it was His true birth date or not. Who was right? Neither.

The day after Thanksgiving is when we put up our Christmas tree. No! It is not a Baal bush, as I’ve heard some call it, referring to the old pagan beliefs. It is an artificial evergreen tree we consider to be a sign of everlasting life. We adorn it with all kinds of beautiful ornaments to represent the beauty each Christian’s life should present to the lost world. We lay presents under the tree to commemorate the gifts the wise men brought to our Lord to honor Him as King of Kings about two years after his birth. And we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, which brought us salvation. Every Christmas Eve, we read through Luke 2 to remind ourselves of the announcement of the birth of a Savior who will open heaven’s door to all.

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” (Matthew 1:21-23 KJV)

This is my Christmas blessing. It’s not an excuse to make merry on the day or to join in with the millions of people who celebrate the holiday. My blessing is the peace that I’ve received after much prayer over what to do. I love my Lord and want to recognize His birth, which led to His life, which led to His death, burial, and resurrection, opening the gates of heaven to me because I’ve accepted His sacrifice on behalf of me for payment of all my sins.

The Scriptures give us more indication of when Jesus died and rose again—specific information— than about when Jesus was born. It wasn’t God’s intention that we should celebrate Christ’s birthday the way we humans do our own. It’s Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that’s so much more important. But like I used to tell my Sunday school class, you have to have a first birthday to have the second. Ye must be (born... and then) born again.

John 3:7 says, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (KJV)

God has made it so easy to be born again because of his first birth in the form of a human baby. I choose to celebrate my Christmas blessing.

Sharon K. Connell

Author, Sharon K. Connell lives in Houston, Texas from where she writes Christian Romance Suspense, containing a bit of mystery and as much humor as she can get into a story. She’s also written many award-winning short stories in a variety of genres.

Sharon attended college in Illinois, graduated from the Pensacola Bible Institute in Florida, and holds a certificate in fiction writing from the International Writing Program through the University of Iowa.

She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, Scribes Critique Group, Houston Writers Guild, and CyFair Writers. She is also the founder of the global Facebook Christian Writers & Readers group forum. Her monthly newsletter, Novel Thoughts, goes out every month to its subscribers in all parts of the world.

Visit the offical website of Sharon K. Connell https://www.authorsharonkconnell.com/

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