Christmas is every day!

Have you ever felt that wonderful feeling that the Christmas season is approaching? All those lights and beautiful decorations being prepared everywhere, a strange frantic movement of people in the stores buying food that they usually don't buy, buying gifts, all those seasonal music playing, an odd sense of happiness mixed with anticipation and anxiety, in some occasions even stress. For some reason, looks like everyone is in a hurry, well a little more than usual, and sometimes people are nicer, but also more nervous. Well, in most places this looks like the Christmas season. Right? For many years in my life, this was exactly the kind of Christmas experience I lived between family and friends. Suddenly there is an anticipation for a preparation of a big party usually where lots of people are invited, everything needs to be perfect, gifts bought and wrapped under a tree, yes, a tree. But why?

There is obviously a reason or a story behind the tree that many people don't even have a clue, it's just tradition, for me right now doesn't have any importance to entertain it here.

But let me be clear here, I don't want to leave a wrong impression, I love the Christmas season, specially what it really means.

I was raised Christian, I knew since really early the meaning of Christmas, the real reason behind the date and the celebration, the Jesus Christ birthday celebration, but after some time, this information was only a notion, the really meaning of celebration was slowly being replaced by all formalities and traditions of a well prepared feast, inviting people, exchange gifts, some games, and another figure was taking the place of importance on this celebration, Santa Claus. Even when I was a child, I had all this illusion created by the movies, media and my parents about the gifts being brought by this person, in my little mind of child and my circumstances, I always wondered, how? Well, as for most of us adults, this became later a big lie and deception.

Some people may say, that's for the kids to have their fun time, but how about all the burden for the parents who cannot provide the same "fantasy" for their kids. Or for those kids that could never experience "this Christmas spirit"? That's just sad.

But if we could bring back to our Christmas season the real meaning of this celebration? If we could teach our children about the most important gift they could ever receive in their entire lives, the Son of God. If, instead of a season of trying to impress people with gifts, or good food and decorations, we could invite our loved ones to celebrate Jesus birthday with thanksgiving and worship?

If, instead of getting anxious about the whole feast preparation, we could take some time to help others in need.

I like to think that Christmas celebration should be every day, because Jesus is our God and Savior forever. Just like Jesus instructed his disciples to take communion, we should be celebrating Jesus birth, death and resurrections every day in our lives and with our families.

In reality, I am not saying I am against the exchange of gifts, or having the feast with our family and friends, neither saying that I don't like the Christmas decorations, actually I love them, but I am truly saying that our Christmas should be to celebrate the most significant event that happened for the whole human race,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:16-18)

Christmas season is gone now and we are back to our daily lives, our jobs, taking care of our families, living our lives.

Where is your Christmas now? The Christmas is every day when you wake up, when you choose to pray to God, giving thanks for one more day, thanking for your daily bread, asking for forgiveness and to be delivered from evil. We should be celebrating Jesus Christ and thanking God for his Son birth, death and resurrection every day.

My wish is that you can keep the real Spirit of Christmas in your heart, when you invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, when you confess that you believe that he is the Son of God and on his sacrifice and resurrection, and you truly repent of you sins, so the Holy Spirit will come to dwell in you, and he will be with you all days of your life and help you on your Christian life. This is the real Christmas every day.

I love you in Jesus.

God bless you. Shalom!