I know that I am not the only person that feels this way on the planet, as I am sure that there are a number of others that feel the same way, but for me, Christmas is not a time of joy that the world says that it is. Seriously. Yes it is great to spend time with family and friends, and it does bring people into the church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but it is not a time of joy for the most part in Christianity.
Imagine a child of yours saying to you that they want to go and try and bring the people of the world into the alignments of the rules that you have created. In reality, these rules are real simple in that you should love God with all of your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Real basic simple rules that we just can't seem to get a grasp on.
Now imagine that your child also tells you that in the end they will suffer a horrible death to pay for somebody else sins. Yes they know that they could simply go down with a big thunder and roar to tell the people to get their act together, but they want to live among the people. Now they don't want to live among the rich and powerful, but among the downtrodden, because they understand that in order to get the message across, they know that these are the people that will understand and truly hear the message. You tell the child that they should really live among the rich and powerful so that the downtrodden can see what it will be like to live in Heaven if they lived by the rules, but your child states clearly that the reason it would not work to live among the rich and powerful is that they will want to psychoanalyze and spend time debating what is said, which means that the words will never reach the downtrodden, and of what does will mean so much different than what was meant in the first place, that it would be a waste of time.
Now imagine trying to convince your child that dying by the cross is a very horrible way and should not be done, but that there are much quicker and easier ways. But the child looks at you and says that by doing it that way, people will look at that and think of how they died for their sins through different stuff that they look at.
Now imagine that your child will gather a group of people around them that they know one of them will deny knowing who they are three times as your child is being treated roughly by Roman Guards, and that they will also have one around him who will turn them into the authorities for some gold, but in the end will realize what they did was wrong and will take there own life, but your child will still love them for your child will know that it will cause trillions and trillions over the years to gather and give thanks and give praises to you, that child's parent.
But your child telling you that it will be some of his women followers who will come to the graveside to do the final traditional things for the dead and that the men will not have the courage to come and even watch over the women to make sure that they are safe. And that it will be those women who will come back to the men to inform them of the things that happened at the tomb, but yet their will be someone who doubts it unless they see the palms of their hands.
Now imagine how you would feel about all of the other things that will happen during their earthly life, and how even with them suffering in the way that they have, they would be willing to suffer the pain of the soldiers whip again for each time that they sin again after that. But they realize that by that suffering their will be some who will truly and fully change who they are, and will try and bring the world where you might even think about permitting them to live in Eden again.
Also imagine the sadness that your child will have when they tell you that for many of the people they will celebrate your child's birth by buying and doing things which are totally unrelated, like buying trees and putting lights and ornaments upon it, buying and wanting new things that have nothing to do with celebrating your glory instead of using that money to help feed and clothe the downtrodden of the world. How businesses will have a day were they will sell things to people at a price that they really should have been selling them in the first place in order to feed their the Money God that the celebrate instead of you, the one True God.
Think about the other things that surround the birth of the Lord and Savior that have nothing to really do with it.
Now I am sure that you have your plans together already, and have bought some (if not ALL) of the gifts for family and friends. You have made your travel plans, or have already invited others over for dinner and etc. But for next year I challenge you to do things differently. I challenge you to spend the season truly and deeply thinking about the child of OUR God and who you have Honored and Lived in the way that helped to bring others to live in God's so simple rules. Think about how YOU would feel if that was YOUR child...
