Christmas is quickly approaching, and for the Christian who chooses to celebrate it, there is a great opportunity for worship, reflection, and fun. When I think about Christmas, the pressure and excitement of shopping for gifts immediately comes to mind. There’s nothing wrong with giving gifts, but I want my purpose for celebrating this holiday to be centered around the birth of Jesus and the fulfilment of His promises. Thankfully, the Lord recently showed me some pretty cool ways to keep the focus on Christ this Christmas, and I want to share some with you:
1. A Fresh Perspective On The Christmas Tree
If you read a previous blog of mine, you might know that I recently started exploring the biblical feast days (Leviticus 23). During this time, I was starting to feel guilty about putting up a Christmas tree during the holidays.
To be honest, I’ve heard that Christmas trees are pagan, but since I haven’t researched that for myself I can’t really speak on it. Either way, people’s opinions on YouTube about the paganism surrounding Christmas and the Christmas tree were starting to get to me. However, I think this is a matter of conviction.
So, here’s a great way to use the Christmas tree as a way to honor God during the holidays.
Galatians 3:13 says, “But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (NLT).
I realize that Jesus did not die on a Christmas tree, but it is still a great symbolism. As you’re putting up the Christmas tree, you can decorate it with red and blue, representing Christ’s death on the cross (John 19:34), and you can use ornaments like angels or miniature crosses. You can even make your own ornaments!
If you have family members or friends that you’re living with, gather them together to help set up the Christmas tree. Afterwards, share the Gospel message using Galatians 3, and the visual imagery from the tree and ornaments. Even if you will be spending Christmas alone, I recommend taking a picture of the Christmas tree and sharing the Gospel message via text.
2. A New Outlook on Gift-Giving
Gift-giving is a pretty big part of Christmas for many people, and we spend so much time shopping and trying to find the best gifts. While gift-giving can be a great thing, the challenge in this activity is to focus less on buying gifts and more on the Gift-giver.
Jesus gave His life for all of us. We don’t deserve His kindness and mercy. We rejected Him and chose other things, but He still made a way for us to come back to Him and be forgiven of our sins. He loves us so much and our affections should be focused on Him this Christmas, if we’re attempting to celebrate what He did.
So, this next activity is kind of two-fold. Focus on giving your time and heart to God this season, and as you receive God’s love, extend it to others.
The wise men acknowledged that Jesus is King. They called him the newborn king of the Jews (Matthew 2:1). When they found the house that Mary and Joseph were staying at, they bowed before Jesus, worshipped Him and gave Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11).
This is the same heart-posture we should have. We’re used to focusing on what we can get and give during Christmas, but we should should stop and ask, “How can I worship God this Christmas?” This is something I’ll discuss later.
With our hearts centered on that question, then we can start to think about what gifts we can give to other people. I often think of what can be most useful to the person, as well as what they like, but the Lord has shown me something that I often overlook.
Salvation is the best gift that a person could ever receive. It may not be treasured by this world, but it truly is what every heart needs. I can’t give someone salvation. That’s a free gift of God that the person has to receive (Ephesians 2:8–9, Mark 10:25–27).
A great activity would be to make your gifts Christ-centered this year. Try to make the main item in your gift box something related to Christ (e.g a Bible, a devotional book, etc.), while the other items in your gift box can be tailored to the person’s likes and passions.
Another challenge would be to share the Gospel with someone this Christmas! My plan is to give all of my neighbors a gift that has a Gospel pamphlet in it. You can even strike up a conversation with a non-believer about the meaning of Christmas for Christians.
3. Reflection
Something I’ve come to really appreciate about biblical feast days is that there is always something to reflect on. For example, during Passover you can reflect on how Jesus is the Passover Lamb. During Rosh Hashanah, I think about Christ’s return. You can do the same thing with Christmas.
Pick a Gospel to reflect on for the month of December. I would suggest Matthew or Luke, since those are the two Gospels that detail Jesus’ birth. If you don’t want to pick a Gospel, you can do a topical study on Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Elizabeth, Zechariah or John the Baptist. If you’re feeling ambitious you can do both!
You can start reflecting and meditating on a Gospel, or doing a topical study before December, but I highly recommend at least starting on the first day of December. It’s a great way to prepare your heart to worship God this Christmas, and it’s better to give yourself plenty of time to reflect instead of waiting until the last minute. Waiting until the last minute can make you feel overwhelmed, and that can distract you from the fun and significance of celebrating this holiday in a Christ-centered way.
I hope that you will try one or all of these! I’d love to hear what you do for the holidays, or what you do for the biblical feast days. Leave a comment below to share other Christ-centered activities for Christmas.
