divineinsight: BY HUMPHREY MTANDWA
Christmas is one of the world’s most popular holidays, celebrated virtually in every nation and it seems the themes of this holiday are the same with slight variations because of differences in culture and beliefs.
Many who celebrate this holiday seem not to have fully grasped the reason for this holiday and its true meaning. Christmas has different central figures, but each figure is a symbol of love and giving.
The Christmas season brings families together and heals nations. It is a time when man is at his best and manifests love towards all those around them.
This holiday has also central figures like Santa Claus and a baby that was born to a virgin. These symbols depict a story of love, sharing and sacrifice.
Christmas carries with it hope and brings out the best out of every man because a strong sense of hope and an ability to share and give that are a part of this amazing season. At times Christmas seems to bring out the best out of even the worst of people because it carries with it such hope that it touches the hearts of many and inspires them to do something for others (selflessness).
The central theme of this holiday is about giving and love but the reason for this theme is not men’s ability to give, but God’s gift to men. It seems society wants to write off the true gift of Christmas. As men exchange gifts on this holiday, they share cards which carry massages of love towards each other.
Without Christ’s birth, there is no Christmas to be celebrated. Hollywood has produced many films that depict how Christmas was lost when Father Christmas (Santa Claus) failed to deliver a gift before Christmas Day and many have made Santa the central theme of the holiday and the main colour theme of this holiday is now central on how Santa dresses.
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Father Christmas steals the joy of Christmas because he blinds people from seeing the reason for this season. His character is flawless and an amazing depiction of the best of us as man. But yet one who was sent and walked among us as man who is the true reason for Christmas is ignored. The true joy of Christmas is the salvation that came with the gift that was given, who is Jesus. He is the reason of this season. Over 2 000 years ago, God gave men a gift in the form of his Son and this gift was sent to take men’s place of sin and act as a sacrifice for men’s freedom and liberty The joy and the liberty many sense come from the love of the sacrifice and in such a year where there was so much loss and despair, we need to have deep understanding of this season so that we can fully benefit from it. Christmas is not just a holiday, but a declaration of God’s love for us all. As we celebrate this holiday, may God reveal His Son to the world that we may experience the true joy of Christmas.
Jesus is the reason for this season and His sacrifice was for every men.
May you have a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
l Humphrey Mtandwa is a minister of the gospel and teacher based in South Africa. He has written several books including The Enoch Generation, Truthfulness and Theophany. He blogs at mtandwa.blogspot.com and can be contacted via e-mail or WhatsApp on +27 610286350.
