However, we have to decide where the focus of our home is going to be this Season. Recently, I had a lady tell me that when her children were growing up, they always made it a point to tell them about how Santa brings them their presents, and encouraged them to ask Santa for the things they wanted. One year, the older children "broke the news" to the younger ones that there really wasn't a Santa Claus. She looked me right in the face, as serious as can be, and told me how the older ones had to be punished that year because they "no longer believed". Sad isn't it? I wonder what would happen in our homes if parents put as much emphasis on believing in the TRUE reason for Christmas as they do the FAKE? I believe that our children deserve the real thing and not this cheap imitation. Children catch on to things much faster than we think, and what does that teach them when they discover that mommy and daddy have been lying to them all these years?
Not too long ago, one of the children in our van ministry asked that very thing. He said, "If the Bible tells us 'Thou Shalt Not Lie', then how's come all these parents lie and tell their kids there's a Santa Claus when there really isn't? Good question isn't it? Do we want our homes to be a place where truth abounds? Or are we going to follow the flow around us and spout the lies?
Jesus came as a baby in a lowly manger; to grow up and live as we do; to face the things that we face; and to die on a rugged cross to pay the price for our sins. It is because HE CAME that we have hope. It is because HE CAME that we have forgiveness of our sins. It is because HE CAME that we can have Eternal life. Then why settle for the cheap version?
This Christmas, let's make JESUS the focus of our homes.
Excellent post, Joanna! My children have also asked me why so many parents lie to their children about Santa. I can't see any reason for Christians to celebrate anything but the REAL Reason for Christmas!
ReplyDelete