ARE YOU READY FOR CHRISTMAS?

            “Henry, are you ready for Christmas?” asked Pete

“Not quite, Pete, but I will be ready in time, though.”

Pete continued: “Do you know who was first in getting ready for Christmas?”

“Someone in the office or in the shop maybe?”

 “No, it was none of them. It was God who was first.”

Henry listened quietly as Pete went on to explain that God began his preparations for Christmas shortly after Adam and Eve had disobeyed the command: “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden...”

At that time God spoke to the serpent, Satan, who had enticed Adam and Eve to disobey his command: “...I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head...”

That was when God promised the coming of the “he”.

Satan tried everything to prevent this coming. He caused mankind to be so evil that God decided he had to destroy it. Except for a select few, God did destroy all of them; that was the time of “The Flood”. The “Tower of Babel” was another of Satan’s efforts; communications confusion was the result of it.

God chose Abraham so that through his posterity this “he” would appear.

Abraham’s descendants, God’s chosen people, became slaves to the Egyptians for more than four hundred years but under the leadership of Moses God liberated them.

Satan caused the “chosen people” not to be always faithful in their worship of God.

Shortly after they had left Egypt he succeeded in influencing them to build a “golden calf” and worship it. After they had entered the Promised Land they several times worshiped the idols of neighboring countries, but when they repented God forgave them. Their special “chosen” relationship with God came from the promise that “he” would be a descendant of Abraham.

 “Weren’t they part of other empires a few times?” Henry asked.

“Yes, they were. When they were a part of the Roman Empire God decided that it was time for this “he” to be born.  His mother, as well as his “adoptive father“, had been told to give him the name Jesus. I am sure, Henry, that you know that the name Jesus means, “the Lord saves” and that Jesus is the Greek form of the name Joshua.”

“By the way, Henry since we’re discussing names, the addition of Christ to Jesus’ name is Greek for “the Anointed One” which is the equivalent for the Hebrew word Messiah. But let’s get back to Christmas”.

Pete continued by recounting that when Jesus was born there was no great celebration, a few shepherds came visiting, a few wise men came by, no one else.

 “How did we come to celebrate Christmas the way we do now?” asked Henry.

 Pete explained that different beginnings and reasons for this celebration are recorded. Many agree that it was in the fourth century that the church tried to clean up a celebration that had existed already for many years. Saturnalia, the festival in honor of the Roman god Saturn, the god of agriculture, had become a festival of drunkenness and utter debauchery. Many years earlier the Roman Senate had forbidden the celebration of Saturnalia, without much success though. By the 4^th century the Christian church wanted to put some Christian spiritual content into the pagan festival. The church’s efforts were not a complete success either, some pagan symbols crept in, the Yule log is one example, the mistletoe another.

Other traditions were added also: Christmas trees, Christmas cards just to name a few and let’s not forget Santa Claus. These distractions Pete explained interfere with the commemoration of the arrival of the “he”; the birth of Jesus, and his ordained purpose to “crush Satan’s head”.

The Christmas symbols, said Pete, have made the real reason for our celebration secondary. Satan succeeds in his distraction from God’s word if our Christmas celebration is limited to good eating, drinking and giving presents. We even justify our gift giving by pretending that we are copying the bringing of gifts by the Wise Men. Satan likes everything about Christmas except commemorating the birth of Jesus. Satan knows that Jesus is the “he” who has come to “crush his head”.

Pete went on to explain that Satan knows that those who accept the fact that Jesus lived, died and rose again, and did so for them, have a restored relationship with God and that Satan has lost them. Every Christmas, Henry, I am reminded of the fact that Jesus went back to heaven after Easter and that when he left the angels made the statement that “he” will return again. This time, however, as our judge and as it says in the book of Revelation: “...every eye will see him...” not just a few selected people, no, “everyone”.

“Henry, are we preparing for that Christmas? The very last one! If not give it some thought. The bible says it might be any day. Let’s keep in mind that today this coming is already a day closer then it was yesterday and tomorrow it is closer yet.”

You’re right Pete, said Henry thoughtfully; God was the first to prepare the world for Christmas, now we have to be prepared for Jesus return.