Whether Santa comes to your house or not, whether you have an Elf that visits or not, whether you read the Bible on Christmas morning or not, cookies for Santa, carrots for reindeer, stockings, or none of the above, let me reassure you, you’re not doing it wrong.
This truth has been a long time coming for me, but I finally got it. Last week, during a wonderful Life Group meeting, we discussed a verse in Colossians that really hit home for me.
Colossians 3:16 NIV: Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
At first, this comforted the side of me that gets so tired of weird looks when me or the boys say that Santa doesn’t come to our house. I now have a little baby, and every body keeps asking her if she’s ready to see Santa and people just don’t get it. But, it’s not for them to get, it’s my thing. So, I kind of brushed off my feathers and thought “Ha ha! That’s there just for me, I’m not doing it wrong.”
But God wasn’t done with me there. Soon, I got to thinking about the fact that Christmas was never a holiday/celebration that God commanded us to have, and the roots of Christmas really don’t have much to do with Christ. Christmas was the churches attempt to convert a pagan celebration to something more Christian.
Whoa hold up. I’m not saying we should exclude God/Christ from any aspect of our lives. I think every waking moment of our lives should include God. (No, I’m not so great at this. Just follow me around for a day…you’ll see all the moments I don’t include God, or ask for His grace, or show it….)
You cannot add enough Jesus to your Christmas celebration to please God. At least, in my opinion I don’t think you can. I think God is more concerned with our hearts, and our daily lives, than with how many nativity scenes we put up, or how many people we reject or rebuke because they like commercial Christmas more than midnight Mass.
God doesn’t love me more for excluding Santa, and He doesn’t love you more because of your elf, and He doesn’t love us based on the gifts we give or receive, or the money we spend. We aren’t more forgiven or more saved or more ready for Heaven based on one holiday per year.
God sent Jesus, and the work of the cross was His alone. We cannot be more saveable or less saveable or more or less loveable to God. He loved us first. And showing Him honor is a daily process, not something based on one celebration.
So, whether you elf or not, Santa or no, or whatever other variety of traditions you share with your family, you are not doing it wrong.
Merry Christmas!
Regina Walker 