LIVE A LIFE OF NO REGRETS!!: That's Why I Don't Do Santa, I'm jealous!!

Quote from "Stepping Heavenward" by Mrs. E. Prentiss

"She says I shall now have one mouth more to fill and two feet the more to shoe, more disturbed nights, more laborious days, and less leisure or visiting, reading, music and drawing.

Well! This is one side of the story, to be sure, but I look at the other.

Here is a sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God; and the body in which dwells is worthy of all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Christ's name, I make a willing sacrifice of what little leisure for my own recreation my other dear darlings had left me. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her lifelong prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, wondrously blest!"

Saturday, December 26, 2009

That's Why I Don't Do Santa, I'm jealous!!

I'M JEALOUS!!!! The personal, wonderful,awesome, most gracious God I serve should not have to share His attributes with an imaginary fat man that delivers toys to our children. What attributes you ask? "He sees you when he's sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you are bad and good so be good for goodness sake", or the one children expect to get the best gifts from, the one with the most anticipated arrival of the year". I don't mind the true story of St. Nick. If I'm given cookies in a Santa tin, I am by far not offended. I don't even mind the children singing songs or seeing Santa at the mall for fun. But I don't want my children to anticipate the arrive of Santa more than the return of Jesus or His Spirit visiting us on earth even now. I don't want them to ever believe he knows all about them when there is only one all-knowing God, Jesus. He's the One you need to fear when you are in sin. When my youngest daughter this year decided Santa had to be real because she had seen him at the mall and other people wouldn't lie to her, I thought it was funny at first. Then realized that I really don't like any honor that belongs to the Lord to ever go to a "fun celebration" on the day when most Christians celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus. I'm jealous. I don't want His glory shared with any other. I also don't want her ever to doubt the "realness" of Jesus as if this was just another fairy tale we tricked her about. I want her to know He is real and that she will desire to know Him herself when she sees Him in our lives. I'm jealous. I don't want to share any of God's glory with Santa. We even had to weigh whether or not to celebrate Christmas in our early Christian walk when we learned the history of the holiday. It's interesting to know the Puritans in England outlawed this holiday as witchcraft. Near the end of the nineteenth century, when other Bible versions began to appear, there was a revival of the celebration of Christmas. We decided to celebrate Christmas in our home...we don't worship the tree or even a baby in a manger but celebrate the risen Lord who was born in the manger. We don't mind the holiday movies as long as they are viewed as any other movie they watch in the year...pure entertainment. It's not for me to decide how anybody else celebrates Christmas, but for me and my house we will focus on the risen Lord Jesus.