So What'd Ya Get?

A commentary by Doug Collison

What did you get for Christmas this year?

These are common words heard around the world in the days following this annual holiday. So what'd ya get? An Xbox? An iPod? An iPhone? A DS? A Wii?

Good stuff, right? Santa came down the chimney and left us all kinds of wonders…ho ho ho!

Get real

Let's get real. After all we're not 5 years old anymore. Let's throw away the fairy tales. Let's push aside the fables. Let's cut through all the phoniness and get down to what Christmas is really about: greed, greed, greed.

Do you doubt this? Look at the stores in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Every retail outlet is trying its best to separate your money from your pocket. Sale, sale, sale!

And every year people respond to these sales. Across the globe in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas there is a massive amount of money spent. For many retailers this yearly bonanza of spending means the difference for the business year between making money or losing money.

Consumers spend money like there's no tomorrow. And thanks to credit cards, many people spend money they don't even have! How weird is that? Spend, spend, spend.

We buy toys. We buy games. We buy TVs. We buy computers. We buy video games, jewelry, clothes, cars and DVDs. We buy virtually anything and everything that can be bought. Many even buy Christmas gifts for their cats and dogs! Buy, buy, buy!

And then after weeks of anticipation it's time for the big event. It's Christmas! We finally get to open our presents. Wrapping paper flies everywhere as we tear open our gifts. He got a Wii. She got a laptop. They got a flat screen. We call each other up and compare. We talk about the treasures we got at work and school. We talk about what we wanted to get but didn't. Get, get, get.

Is this good? Is all this excess right?

Christmas is what?

I can hear the protests now. Many well-meaning individuals are thinking "For me, Christmas isn't about the gifts. For me it's about Jesus."

But is that right? Is it about the birthday of baby Jesus? Was He born on Dec. 25? Is Christmas in the Bible? Haven't Christians always celebrated Christmas? The short answer is: No, no, no.

Christmas is a holiday created by men. It's not in the Bible. It didn't become part of traditional Christianity until more than 300 years after the death of Jesus Christ.

The pilgrims of New England wouldn't celebrate Christmas because they knew it wasn't right. At one time it was illegal to celebrate Christmas in certain parts of the United States and England. And no Christian in the Bible ever celebrated Christmas. Facts. Facts. Facts.

If not Christmas, then what?

So what days did the first Christians observe? The same ones Jesus Christ created! He has His own Holy Days. He even called them "My feasts." These days, the same ones He observed, are in the Bible and are listed in Leviticus 23. You can learn more by checking out Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe?

Think about it. Shouldn't those who say they follow Jesus do what He did and keep His Holy Days? Yet, some ask, why should we?

Three words: Truth, truth, truth! VT