Here comes the silly season!

The pagan celebration, Halloween, ended over a week ago, and here comes along the biggest one of all. It creeps upon all and sundry, without any apology or compromise, and it is like no other celebration in terms of international appeal, expenditure, and indulgence. It’s the season of Christmas. It’s the silly season when excesses take over and sometimes reason, common sense and logic take a backseat.

On October 31, Halloween, the day dedicated to the dead, I was walking in the mall when the Christmas decorations caught my eyes. In years gone by, I noticed the decorations would start some time after Halloween. However, this year, I noticed some stores had their Christmas decorations even before Halloween was over.

But, it’s another year, and here we are again ready, and not ready, to be bombarded by the ridiculous, the sane and the insane, when it comes to acts and experiences this time of the year. Indeed, we are in the silly season!

Of course, in the weeks ahead, retailers are luring those who’re ready to spend lavishly, what they don’t have, on their indoor merchandise.  The jolly old fellah, the man in red, Santa Claus, will be having children all around him hearing that husky laugh, with each one hoping he will be crawling down their chimneys (hopefully he fits) bringing gifts. Or, if there’s no chimney, he will be coming through their locked doors, as if he’s invisible, as he goes from house to house leaving gifts for the young ones. How do we expect our children to behave when we tell them lies? All we can hear is “Oh, it’s for the children.” Really?

The Christmas tree growers are already reaping and packaging their trees for export, while some retailers are hoping for their imports to reach weeks ahead, to catch the early bird shoppers. The ornaments of silver and gold, bulbs and stars, are already in stores waiting to be tucked onto the evergreen leaves. The evergreen, of course, symbolises eternal life in many pagan religions. Nowadays, it’s a Christmas tree and the connection to Christ is beyond me!

Stores are adequately stocked with all manner of merchandise that will be purchased for gifts – books, jewellery, CD’s, videos, phones, appliances, you name it, they are ready to be passed on from hand to hand.

Family get-togethers are being planned, office parties, too, as this is the only time of the year most companies will give you an hour or two to attend a staff event in commemoration of Christmas. Even government departments, federal, provincial and municipal, that stay far from anything with the appearance of religion (although Christmas is already outside of the realm of religion), have their Christmas trees, too.

There are also many other things going on. They’re too many to mention; the busy airports taking people to meet families and friends, going on holiday vacation. Business is booming. Most retailers will tell you this the time of the year they earn most of their sales.

THE BIG QUESTION though given the name of the season. What does all this have to do with the birth of our LORD and SAVIOUR Jesus, the Christ?

First of all, he was never born on December 25. I don’t of anyone who would like their birthday to be celebrated on a different date with such fanfare. December 25, was the birthday of several pagan deities, even some before Christ was born; if Jesus wanted us to celebrate His birthday, He would certainly have given us the date like He did for His Holy Days or times. None of his followers in the early church kept His birthday. What justification is there for such a celebration?

I ask this question because from the very first week of creation, God created some “appointed times for festivals,” and Christmas is NOT among them. Gen. 1:14 tells about the “moeds” or “appointed times,” (render ‘season’ in most Bibles) God sets apart for “my feasts,” or “feasts of the LORD,” as we see them outlined further on Lev. 23.  Many would readily say they are Jewish feasts; and yes, they are Jewish because God was only dealing with Israel at the time and no other nation (Psalm 149 and Amos 3).

Yet, we see Jesus, while on Earth, celebrating these “appointed times” along with his disciples and apostles, and the primitive church kept them as well. We also see in the prophetic books of the Bible that ALL NATIONS will have to keep these festivals of Lev. 23 when Christ’s everlasting kingdom is established on Earth. Here’s logic: if all nations are going to keep them in the future, why are we not keeping them now? Why use an ancient pagan day, something that God describes an abomination to Him, and claimed your SAVIOUR was born on that day, when we know jolly well he was never born on that day? Who is this really dedicated to? Only God can deem what is holy!

During this silly season, you need to pause and reflect on this reality and ask yourself: What am I truly celebrating? Some say it is time to put Christ back into Christmas; the truth is He was never in it from the first place. Christmas is NOT His birthday! If He wanted it to be celebrated, the God of the Bible would surely have told us. The Bible is His instruction manual for humanity and all His commands are there. It’s a pity so many are ignoring it. But then, it is the silly season. Who cares? For more on this subject download FREE our booklet, FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CHRISTMAS.