 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Talk Back: The reason behind this season
Wednesday, December 29, 1999 By Cynthia Levy
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
You may wonder what this Bible verse means. What does it have to do with the Christmas season?
It has everything to do with Christmas. A lot of people have forgotten why Christmas really exists and why it came into being in the first place. Some say it is a time to be with family -- God says, "No!" Many say it is a time to receive presents and to give others gifts. However, God still says, "No!"
The true meaning of Christmas is not about family or giving or receiving gifts. Christmas is the most important day of the year, the day in which "God loved the world so much that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
But the real meaning of Christmas has been tossed and turned into a superficial day in which we buy and receive gifts and we spend time with our families, totally ignorant of the fact that it is the day when our savior, Jesus Christ, was born.
Jesus Christ gave up paradise to come down to earth and die for people who neither deserved him nor appreciated him. He was persecuted and died so that we would no longer be held in bondage by sin, but that we might "have life and have it more abundantly." This calls us to be grateful at Christmas and to really meditate on the fact that we possess items we do not deserve -- and, most of all, that only God made it possible for us to celebrate this joyous season.
I believe Christmas is a time for all of us to be grateful for the things we have. We should understand exactly how unworthy we are to receive even the smallest gifts that we have. We should be in a time of giving thanks to Our Father above who saw fit to send his one and only son to save us from our own self-destruction. We must also observe that it is only through God-given grace that we are even able to celebrate this holiday with gifts and family.
So, I challenge everyone who celebrates "Xmas" to examine themselves and realize that the real meaning of Christmas is to live every day of every year in holy worship of Christ, our risen savior!
Cynthia Levy, 17, of the Hill District, is a senior at Brashear High School . She is active in youth ministries at Macedonia Church in the Hill District.
|
||||||||
