O Night Divine

By -
You know, its hard for me to write for this blog because of the profound
apostasy of these times. At times, I feel as though I'm living in an
alternate world. Especially around major Christian holidays, which are
considered so sacred and holy. Christmas like Easter, has deep pagan
origins. The Christmas history began 4000 years ago with the
Mesopotamians.

"The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our
Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child
was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the
giving of gifts, carnivals(parades) with floats, carolers who sing while
going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church procession
can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.

Many of these traditions began with the Mesopotamian celebration of New
Years. The Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as their chief god -
Marduk. Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do
battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk in his struggle the
Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. This was Zagmuk, the New
Year's festival that lasted for 12 days." -
www.holidays.net/Christmas/story.htm

No, I'm not secretly a Jehovah's Witness :). As a matter of fact we have
dinner on this day and give some presents to our children. Quite simply,
I do not ascribe to the beliefs and practices that cater to the "spirit"
of Christmas.

I worship on Christmas day the same I worship every day...in spirit,
rooted in truth, in praise of God, the Father's provision of His Son for
our salvation. You will not see the commercialization of Christmas in my
home. You will not see the tree, nor the lights. You will see our love
for the Lord, as our day is Christ centered, with no Santa, or
commercialization competing for the spotlight. You will see our love for
another and our hospitality, truth be known you will see this everyday.

What turns me off about the Christmas "spirit" is that it is temporary.
Generosity, hospitality and mainly, the acknowledgement of Christ's
birth only lasts the length of the season.

What my liberty in Christ Jesus of Nazareth has given me is the freedom
to worship Him in truth. To adhere to the intention of Christmas and not
the beliefs and practices that stems from an apostate generation. In
saying this, I am not threatened by Christmas and those who observe it
religiously. But it seems that those who do, are threatened by my
commitment to observe it truthfully.

Rituals and practices with ties to paganism have overtaken this holy
phenomenon and reduced it to a one-day commercialized event. It makes me
wonder how serious Christians take the Gospel, if their preference for a
traditional Christmas supercedes the divinity by which they have named
themselves.

Never has there been a more divine night, the day the Son of Man was
born. Does it not deserve a wholesome, truthful recognition from those
for whom He was born?

John 3:16

Blogging from my mobile phone!

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