Love to hear from and know who is listening
Let’s face it, gifts are usually the reason we get excited about Christmas. The Liberty Mutual insurance company has a commercial around Christmas that just cracks me up. It begins by showing a young boy opening a gift, his mother asks him what he got. He responds, “It is customized home insurance from Liberty Mutual.” His father replies, “What does it do buddy?” to which the young boy explains with great enthusiasm, “It customizes our home insurance so we only pay for what we need!” Then the mother turns to the other boy and asks him and what did you get and the boy replies with his head hung low, “I got a bike.” Then he kicks the bike and goes to the other room to sulk. What is the greatest gift we have ever been given? God sending Jesus, His Son, to the manger in Bethlehem. You may think this is a crazy question to ask but what would you say is the difference between Jesus Christ and Santa Claus? Disregard for the moment the obvious fact that Santa Claus is a fictional character and Jesus is not.
Jesus came from heaven to a manger outside of Bethlehem, then to a cross in Jerusalem, followed by ascension back to heaven, and is coming back to earth to establish his everlasting kingdom. Santa Claus comes from the North Pole in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. One of them makes an appearance once a year on Christmas Day, while the other one has promised to be with us every day of our lives for as long as we live. Both of them have had songs written about them, but it may be in the lyrics of those songs that the clearest difference between Jesus Christ and Santa Claus can be found.
Here is what we sing about Santa Claus: You better watch out, you better not cry, You better not pout, I’m telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town. He’s making a list; he’s checking it twice, He’s going to find out who’s naughty and nice, Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you’re sleeping, He knows when you’re awake, He knows when you’ve been bad or good, So be good for goodness sake.
Now listen to what we sing about Jesus Christ: Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born king, Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies, with angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem, Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born king.
John 3:16-17 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Not only has Santa Claus led us to believe that Christmas is primarily about gifts, most of us also give like Santa Claus gives; only to the people that we like and everyone else gets a lump of coal. When was the last time you did something nice at Christmas for a person you did not like or that you knew didn't like you? It is human nature; we give gifts to the people that we like. The others who have hurt us, or offended us, or who we simply do not like for one reason or another get left out. Under the guidelines of the Gospel according to Santa Claus, they have been naughty and we can just scratch them off of our list. Now contrast Santa’s approach to Christmas with the Gospel. The Gospel says Christmas is about how the love of God was demonstrated when God gave to us His only begotten Son, to forgive our sins, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but should have everlasting life. I hope you understand that the most precious gift any one could possibly receive this Christmas is the gift of salvation, the gift of the forgi
