TV movies can be a great pastime. One can sit down or curl up with a cup of hot chocolate or tea and watch as probably 95% of the movies feature the same plot: a guy and girl end up in love and after swearing they’re not part of a small community, end up hitching and settling down in a small, layback town where cakes and cookies are baked, consumed and even given away ‘on the house ’every single day by the dozens. I wonder how the businesses make any money!
Great movies-sometimes. Some are more real than others. The real ones deal with real issues, religious convictions, and less Santa Clause issues. Other movies, where Santa reigns and “Anything can happen at Christmas,” are more fantasy than real life. And so, every problem can be tackled in a matter of days or weeks.
Seeing Santa and elves and all the decorations can be great entertainment and inspiration. The negative aspect of it all is that Christmas time happens to be the saddest day (season) of the year for many. Problems aren’t solved in a jiffy. The man/woman of your dreams probably evaporated once you awoke. Bills and debts are ever-present. Every day that it snows can be thrilling, especially the first time around and as long as you don’t have to go to work or school, or run errands…or plow it. We all tend to love novelties. We fall in love with images of what could be and how wonderful fairy tales look. Reality can be harsh.
The wonders of Christmas, as far as Christmas lights, garlands, red, silver, gold, and green colors go, is magical. But the harsh reality of the holiday is that real Christmas and its significance is left out in the cold. It gets buried in the snow. It gets forgotten under an avalanche of commercialism.
So many people feel they have nothing at all in their lives that relates to Christmas, yet they like to give or share with others, they like to ‘treat’ others to meals, movies, games, etc. We don’t do those things out of our own nature or because ‘That’s just who I am.’ Those qualities are innate because God put them there. Because He taught us to give; to be generous, etc. In other words, we do have things or ways that relate to the holiday. We are more like God than we sometimes realize.
So then, what’s the big deal with Christmas? Who cares if there’s a Santa in every movie or street corner or not? God says He will not share His glory with anyone (Isaiah 42:8). If Santa pointed everyone to God as being the one who provides or the one who answers prayers, then there would be no problem. However, Santa gets all the attention because he makes everyone happy by magically solving everyone’s problems. The real Gift-Giver, Jesus, came to earth as a gift from God with one purpose: to die and be raised for our sins. In doing so, He defeated the forces of evil.
Make use of this holiday season to give like Santa but most importantly, to give like God and to love like Jesus. Real life-answers come from the Man far beyond the North Pole; From the Man, not in a red suit, but whose red blood was shed to turn your red-crimson/scarlet sins, white as snow and wool (Isaiah 1:18).
God Bless,
Sam