Many of the holidays have been just that for too many years. Even in the Christian family unit, most of the children lose sleep in expectation of Santa Claus' arrival rather than Jesus' arrival in the manger. I don't think we should rob our children of the joy of Christmas by simply not observing it, but I do believe we should teach them the true meaning it holds.
We need to remember that it's the Father Who set up the plan of redemption in the first place. A lot of us were probably raised in a culture that taught more about Santa rather than Jesus. God can still reach through all the things making the truth seem snowy and bring us to it.
Many of us received salvation later in life. I would that I had been born again when I was a child, but I wasn't. God still managed to reach me in the darkness, despite my past, beliefs and unbelief. I remember dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating and I remember taking my own children and doing the same. God still managed to get us all out of it.
If you were saved later in life, then you must trust Him to still reach your family. We try preaching at them more than teaching them sometimes. I recall going to work at the paper mill, several years ago, and some my fellow workers were wondering why a Pastor would take another job. I didn't leave my place as a Pastor, I extended the message of Christ to another group who needed Christ too.
When I interviewed for the job, I informed the manager that I was a Pastor and wouldn't work on Sundays if hired. He was gracious about that condition and hired me anyway. Most of the men working there heard that they hired a preacher and were waiting to see "what" I was. I went there to share Jesus, but I also made an obligation to the man who hired me and I intended to live up to both.
The guys I worked with were good, hard working men who loved their families. They worked hard and provided for their loved ones. I had to prove myself as a man who expected no favors and who would work as hard, get just as dirty and sweat as much as everyone else, when I first started working there.
Gaining the respect of the men I worked with was as important as the reason I went there. They watched to see if I would expect a task with a lesser degree of difficulty or if I would be slack on the job. Finally, I was accepted as one of the guys, not only as a Pastor, but as a Christian man. Then, I was able to share what I really had come there to do.
Jesus went into the places that were open to Him, in order to teach and preach the Gospel. Many people didn't want to hear His message, but many did. The holidays were fast approaching when I started working in the paper mill. I was surprised how few of my fellow workers knew what Easter was really about. I found it difficult to believe that in today's America, that grown men and women, good men and women, had no idea that Easter was the time we celebrate Jesus' resurrection.
I took that opportunity to share the truth of Easter and it became a Holy-day and not just a holiday to them. They didn't reject Easter as Jesus' resurrection day, they just didn't know that it was. Many were saved during the three years I worked at that mill.
Later, during the Christmas season, I was able to share the truth of Christmas with them. Everyone was busy buying gifts and showing love to their families in the only fashion they knew. After learning the truth why we celebrate Christmas, one young man bought his daughter her first Bible. He found a Children's Bible and for the first time, he read to his daughter (along with himself) about the Christmas miracle of Jesus' birth.
He had never before, in his thirty-two years, read the account of the virgin birth and the true meaning of Christmas. I had now become a Holy-day instead of a holiday. One couple who had been living together for ten years, asked me to marry me when they heard and believed.
There are many here in America, where there's a church on every corner, who have never heard about Jesus. Jesus never told the sinner to "Come into the church and hear the Gospel." He instructed the Church to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel." We've taken for granted that they've all heard, but they haven't.
They have heard religious rules and rites from many churches. Many have been put off by someone who doesn't practice what he preaches or by someone's misunderstanding of the Word. The Church sometimes, looks like doesn't know what they believe either. One group teaches one thing while another group teaches something else. We can't seem to agree on what we believe.
Our light has been put under a bushel and appears diminished in the eyes of the unsaved. There aren't any of my fellow workers who attend my church, but they are in the family of God with me. None of them go to my church, even today, but I know that they are all still following God and serving Him. God never told us to "Fence the sheep," only to "Feed the sheep." I can't tell you where they fit into the Body of Christ, but Jesus knows because He fits the parts together as He sees fit and each part is important where He places them.
I've found that many Christians don't even understand what "Baptism" really is or what it represents. Very little is being taught about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in today's churches. Walking in the power of the Holy Spirit or in the presence of the Spirit or in the supernatural power of God has been '"passed away" in most of our churches. Even most of our Sunday morning gatherings have become more holiday than Holy-days. We've become accustomed to not realizing the presence of the Holy Spirit, the gift of prophecy and tongues and the interpretation of tongues during our services, that they've ceased in many Christian gatherings. Our most revered days of observation have become long weekends.
There are Christians who refuse to observe such holidays as Christmas and Easter because the world celebrates them as pagan holidays. I say that, "Where two or more are gathered in His Name, He is in the midst of them." It doesn't matter what the world thinks about these days, but what the Church does with them. Instead of letting the world decide which days we observe, the Church should decide. If we allow the world to determine which days we can observe as Holy, then we won't have any left.
Any day in which a Christian will call upon His Name is a Holy day, even if he is the only one who observes it. We don't need to have the world agree with us, only Jesus. The Apostle John stood on the Isle of Patmos and declared it was the Lord's Day, when the Lord appeared in all His glory. I doubt that many, if any, would have the faith to declare it was a Holy day, let alone a holiday. But, John did. The Feast of Passover isn't a day we, as Christians, observe under the Law, but under grace. It was one day remembered from years past when their ancestors were freed from Egypt, under the Law. We celebrate every day as Passover, because our Passover Lam is still alive and His Blood is being applied on the Mercy Seat in heaven for us.
They had one day of deliverance from the bondage of slavery, but we have an eternity of deliverance and a daily source of deliverance by His presence and His BLood.
Have a great resurrection celebration this Sunday and every other day of the year because He is Risen.
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