Not Knowing About Christmas

You’ve heard the saying that knowledge is power. Like anything powerful, knowledge can be used for evil; it being withheld is also evil. Having knowledge that a person needs to live life to its fullest and not sharing it is bad. Not sharing knowledge that could change someone’s eternity is sinful.

Christmas Eve is one week from today. I think I love Christmas Eve almost as much as I love Christmas morning. As a child, gifts from family and friends were opened on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning was for Santa Claus. Right or wrong, that was the tradition in my home. The point I’m trying to make, is that as a child the real excitement for me began on Christmas Eve.

The meaning of Christmas has changed for me. I still love the tradition of exchanging gifts; I love to bless my family with gifts. However, being reminded of the true meaning of Christmas is always welcomed. Knowing that God came to earth to spare His creation from the death of sin is the greatest gift any person could ever receive:

    “And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” (Luke 2:16-18)

It could be argued that the shepherds living out in the fields were the first evangelists. Notice their urgency and dedication to sharing the good tidings of great joy. When did the shepherds share the gospel? They shared it “when they had seen Him.” How much did the shepherds share the gospel? “They made widely known” the gospel.

The excuses we use today for not witnessing to the lost is shamed by the shepherds’ example. They did not need any special training or discipleship classes. They simply shared what they had witnessed. If you’re thinking you have never witnessed something as grand as the birth of Christ, how about sharing your new birth?

I know sharing the gospel during Christmas is taboo in many families, but God’s commandment to do so has greater authority than any family rules:

    “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Notice that Jesus didn’t say should; He said shall. That means we are commanded to do so. The only real choice in this matter is to obey or disobey.

You might be surprised how many people in your sphere of influence do not know the true meaning of Christmas. Not knowing about Christmas is one of the least excusable examples of ignorance by all mankind. There is no good reason for not knowing about the season.

The greatest gift, one wrapped in love, is the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We who have been born again have a great responsibility and privilege to share our testimony. We know the real reason for the season and telling some people to remember it is telling them to recall something of which they know nothing. We have to tell them, not remind them:

    “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:14-15)

Who do you know that needs the gift of salvation? Do you know for a fact that they have received the good tidings of great joy? Do you realize that the good news is for all people? We have a mandate and an example for sharing the good news about Christmas.

If the dregs of society in the time of Jesus’ birth could overcome their limitations and make widely known the birth of jesus, then why can’t we?

Not knowing about Christmas is far worse than anything the Grinch could ever attempt.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2015 David Jeffers

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