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Celebration
+ Worship
By Ben L. Kocher
It seems to me that the whole
world seems to stop for Christmas. Somehow on Christmas Eve, the air
seems crisper, lights seem bright and the air just feels peaceful.
As Americans, we sure know
how to celebrate Christmas. We decorate our homes, inside and
outside. Our towns are filled with decorations and special events
such as parades and tree lighting ceremonies. Schools have concerts,
churches have a multitude of special events. Yes, let's admit it:
more people attend church the Sunday before Christmas than at any
other time of the year.
We celebrate with office
parties and open houses and lots of food, festive food. I love the
food at Christmas: the cookies, the shrimp, the clam chowder (a
Christmas tradition at our house), the cheese - and did I mention
the cookies?
Americans know how to
celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. Daniel Boorstein
(one of my favorite historical authors), in his book The Americans:
the Democratic Experience, calls Christmas "An American Festival of
Consumption!''
I had the thought today that
we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, and everybody gets a
gift except Jesus! Wouldn't it be strange if we had a birthday party
for one of our loved ones and everybody got a gift, but the one
whose birthday we're celebrating?
The greatest gift we can give
to Jesus is worship. If we worship someone, we try to please them.
It's easy to get distracted
today. There are so many things that can keep our thoughts about
Christmas and not Christ. I have observed and enjoyed more than 60
Christmases, and frankly during most of them - no, all of them -
thought more about Christmas than Christ.
Our greatest method to
worship Jesus is not only believing in Him, but following Him. There
is a huge difference.
I honestly believe if all
Christians would follow Jesus, we could change the world. That would
be the best gift He could receive. After all, I believe He came to
change the world!
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