When I surrendered my life to the Lord many years ago, He demonstrated his great love and his power by setting me free from something that had kept me in bondage for years. The gratitude I felt was beyond my ability to describe. And he began in me a work which would slowly, but surely, change almost everything inside of me. So to say that I "love" him, is quite the understatement.
My heart, in return, was fixed upon him and I loved him with all of my being. And from that love, I sought to find out what he loves, and what he hates, so I could align my heart with his to the best of my ability.
I learned a lot during the first few years, totally replacing all I had known before, with the Word of God, his revelation of himself to mankind as recorded in the Bible. One thing I discovered is the pernicious hatred of Satan not only for God, but for anyone who loves God. Satan is all about corrupting and perverting and replacing truth with lies. So it shouldn't have been such a surprise to me to discover that most of the traditions we celebrate our holidays with, are actually rites and rituals that the pagans used in the worship of their gods. And "Christmas" is one of those traditions. Jesus was not born in December, but December 25 was the feast day of a foreign Roman god.
So I had a choice to make. But it actually wasn't a choice, because my heart just refused to dishonor my Lord with pagan celebrations. And for many years I just endured the unkind remarks of others as I refused to put up a tree in my home, or get involved with any of the other traditions concerning this or any other holiday. Although my heart was pure, it was a painful time for me on the holidays, because I felt isolated in spite of the fact that it was by my own choice. But to my heart there was nothing else I could do, unfaithfulness to my Lord just wasn't an option, regardless what it cost me.
But one day as I thought upon the fact that Jesus was born during the fall Jewish feasts, it suddenly occurred to me that if he was born in September, then that means he was conceived in December. So I took a closer look at that, and then I saw that there is a Jewish feast in December, Hanukkah. Hanukkah is called the "feast of lights." And Jesus is "the light of the world." Could it be ....? Could I actually join other believers in celebrating Jesus in December? In December, not only believers are celebrating Christ, but unbelievers as well. The celebration of his birth, or conception, has touched the entire earth. It's the greatest season of celebration the world knows, and it's all because of Jesus coming into our world.
As I mused on this subject some more, I saw something else that just delighted my heart. The Hebrew holy days are often 7-day feasts. And it occurred to me that even the Christmas celebration is a 7-day feast, from the 25th through the end of the year, and then the following day begins a new year. Just as the birth of Christ in my heart so long ago began not only a new year, but a new life altogether. I think the power of the story of the babe in Bethlehem has defeated the power of the deceptions with which Satan has tried to muddy it.
This year, I've attended some carol-singing, and my heart was touched more deeply than at any other celebration I've ever taken part in. I rose up and rejoiced in all the worship directed to Jesus during this season. I noticed as though for the first time, the glow, the atmosphere, the wonder of the season, as I did as a child. Well, when I was a child, Christmas was all about me. But now, Christmas has become all about my Savior. For the first time, I've been able to join in all the glory of the season.
So I've come full-circle, from the selfishness of my childhood Christmas, to the forsaking of all that out of a true love for the Lord, and back again as He has enabled me to see him in December, in that impoverished room in Nazareth as his mother said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.'' It's not about a day, in fact Hannukkah occurs on different dates in December each year. It's about the Creator who condescended to become Emanuel, God with us, in order to provide for us the greatest gift a human could possibly receive, the gift of pardon, and of the presence of Emanuel, the light of the world who has become the light of MY world.
And it's ALL about him!
