It's that time of the year again. Carols playing on the radio. Christmas decorations popping up everywhere. Ah, its Christmas time.
Christmas- synonymous with gift-giving, frantic last minute-shopping, endless cooking, and parties all around. For most of us, this is what Christmas brings and does- we get excited because we know we will be receiving gifts, we also get stressed just thinking about what gifts to buy for everybody. Let alone what foods to cook and serve for Noche Buena.
Christmas also means that we get to see elaborate decorations. Here in the Philippines, we are known as the country that celebrates Christmas the longest. Decorations start going up from the first of September, and carols are played on radio stations on that same day. Some people go out of their way to make their decorations stand out, attracting a lot of people to visit them and they even get featured on TV sometimes.
And then there's the feasting part. Wouldn't it be nice if the food just appeared on the table without having to cook it, let alone go shopping for ingredients, fighting your way among the crowd, or waking up early enough to be able to choose your meat? Ah, the stress of food preparation! And after all that labor, it is eaten in just a matter of minutes, ha ha!
And of course for most of us, Christmas is the time of giving and receiving gifts. Children are all excited, because they know for sure that they'll be receiving something. For us adults, we are happy to just be able to buy things and give gifts to our children and countless godchildren. We are of course especially pleased if we also receive gifts, more so when the gift is unexpected.
During this Christmas time though, I would like to encourage every one with this article. Sometimes we get too busy with all the preparations that we forget why we celebrate Christmas. We get so distracted by all the preparations and everything that comes with the holiday that we forget the reason we are celebrating.
We celebrate Christmas, because God, according to the bible,so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And from this gift we have Christmas. From this gift we have learned to give gifts to each other and love each other as well.
I have had the chance to go to Israel, and while there, we were shown a manger. When we think of a manger, the usual image that comes to mind is that of a basket filled with straw and then on top a blanket wherein Jesus was laid. It is definitely different.
Here is a picture of a manger. Really, you ask. Yes. Come to think of it, since there was no room in the inn for Mary to give birth, as told in the gospels, she gave birth in a stable. She was surrounded by animals. Imagine horses, donkeys, perhaps some goats, throw in some chicken coops as well. The manger is in fact an instrument that holds water for the animals to drink in. Of course there was no plastic then, so it couldn't have been made of plastic, and of course, since there were a lot of animals, it had to be made of stone so that even if they step on it, it wouldn't be crushed.
Quite shocking, isn't it? As it was explained to us then, it suddenly made sense. While growing up, we saw nativity scenes that were nicely decorated. The reality was just it was really just a stable, and they had to make do with the place because the baby had to come at that time. So we can just imagine Mary placing some cloths on the hard stone to make it warm and soft for the baby to lie in. And thus the Savior of the world came into being in such a humble way.
Why? Since He is the Savior of the world, did He choose to be born that way? He could have been born in a palace, so that He could have had the most beautiful crib and the softest of swaddling cloths. He could have been born any way He chose, but He chose to be born that way, because I believe, He wanted to reach out to every single person with that humble birth. If He was born in a palace, would He have been able to relate to the difficulties and suffering of the homeless? If He was born rich, would He have been able to relate to the hardships of the poor? Think about it, my friends. I could go on and on.
So, Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, was born in a lowly manger, to give His life as a ransom for many. Because God the Father loved the world so much, He was willing to give His Son, His only begotten Son to us, so that if we believe in HIm, we might have eternal life as the bible says.
So, this Christmas, in the midst of all the preparations, in the midst of all the gift-buying and wrapping, in the midst of all the cooking and feasting, may we not neglect to give thanks to God, for giving us the greatest gift we could ever receive, the gift of Jesus, the gift of eternal life if we believe in Him. I encourage all of us to take time and reflect about His great love for us, that we may also learn to love other people, people who have hurt us, people who have disappointed us, people who we think have wronged us. May we learn to forgive others, just as he has forgiven us of our sins. And above all, may we learn to receive His gift, as I believe is still being extended to those who have yet to receive, the gift of salvation. The gift of eternal life.
All we have to do is utter a simple prayer, asking Him to forgive our sins, and asking Him to be Lord of our lives, and for Him to take over so that we could love and forgive others just as He did for us.
Merry Christmas everyone! Praying you will have a blessed time and we look forward to another blessed year ahead!
For more articles like this, please go to this page.
Christmas- synonymous with gift-giving, frantic last minute-shopping, endless cooking, and parties all around. For most of us, this is what Christmas brings and does- we get excited because we know we will be receiving gifts, we also get stressed just thinking about what gifts to buy for everybody. Let alone what foods to cook and serve for Noche Buena.
Christmas also means that we get to see elaborate decorations. Here in the Philippines, we are known as the country that celebrates Christmas the longest. Decorations start going up from the first of September, and carols are played on radio stations on that same day. Some people go out of their way to make their decorations stand out, attracting a lot of people to visit them and they even get featured on TV sometimes.
And then there's the feasting part. Wouldn't it be nice if the food just appeared on the table without having to cook it, let alone go shopping for ingredients, fighting your way among the crowd, or waking up early enough to be able to choose your meat? Ah, the stress of food preparation! And after all that labor, it is eaten in just a matter of minutes, ha ha!
And of course for most of us, Christmas is the time of giving and receiving gifts. Children are all excited, because they know for sure that they'll be receiving something. For us adults, we are happy to just be able to buy things and give gifts to our children and countless godchildren. We are of course especially pleased if we also receive gifts, more so when the gift is unexpected.
During this Christmas time though, I would like to encourage every one with this article. Sometimes we get too busy with all the preparations that we forget why we celebrate Christmas. We get so distracted by all the preparations and everything that comes with the holiday that we forget the reason we are celebrating.
We celebrate Christmas, because God, according to the bible,so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And from this gift we have Christmas. From this gift we have learned to give gifts to each other and love each other as well.
I have had the chance to go to Israel, and while there, we were shown a manger. When we think of a manger, the usual image that comes to mind is that of a basket filled with straw and then on top a blanket wherein Jesus was laid. It is definitely different.
Here is a picture of a manger. Really, you ask. Yes. Come to think of it, since there was no room in the inn for Mary to give birth, as told in the gospels, she gave birth in a stable. She was surrounded by animals. Imagine horses, donkeys, perhaps some goats, throw in some chicken coops as well. The manger is in fact an instrument that holds water for the animals to drink in. Of course there was no plastic then, so it couldn't have been made of plastic, and of course, since there were a lot of animals, it had to be made of stone so that even if they step on it, it wouldn't be crushed.
Quite shocking, isn't it? As it was explained to us then, it suddenly made sense. While growing up, we saw nativity scenes that were nicely decorated. The reality was just it was really just a stable, and they had to make do with the place because the baby had to come at that time. So we can just imagine Mary placing some cloths on the hard stone to make it warm and soft for the baby to lie in. And thus the Savior of the world came into being in such a humble way.
Why? Since He is the Savior of the world, did He choose to be born that way? He could have been born in a palace, so that He could have had the most beautiful crib and the softest of swaddling cloths. He could have been born any way He chose, but He chose to be born that way, because I believe, He wanted to reach out to every single person with that humble birth. If He was born in a palace, would He have been able to relate to the difficulties and suffering of the homeless? If He was born rich, would He have been able to relate to the hardships of the poor? Think about it, my friends. I could go on and on.
So, Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, was born in a lowly manger, to give His life as a ransom for many. Because God the Father loved the world so much, He was willing to give His Son, His only begotten Son to us, so that if we believe in HIm, we might have eternal life as the bible says.
So, this Christmas, in the midst of all the preparations, in the midst of all the gift-buying and wrapping, in the midst of all the cooking and feasting, may we not neglect to give thanks to God, for giving us the greatest gift we could ever receive, the gift of Jesus, the gift of eternal life if we believe in Him. I encourage all of us to take time and reflect about His great love for us, that we may also learn to love other people, people who have hurt us, people who have disappointed us, people who we think have wronged us. May we learn to forgive others, just as he has forgiven us of our sins. And above all, may we learn to receive His gift, as I believe is still being extended to those who have yet to receive, the gift of salvation. The gift of eternal life.
All we have to do is utter a simple prayer, asking Him to forgive our sins, and asking Him to be Lord of our lives, and for Him to take over so that we could love and forgive others just as He did for us.
Merry Christmas everyone! Praying you will have a blessed time and we look forward to another blessed year ahead!
For more articles like this, please go to this page.
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