The Real Reason for the Season---No Santa's Allowed Here!

Christmas is finally upon us! I have been praying for 2 weeks about composing a “Christmas blog” and what I would include. My husband and I have very strong convictions about Christmas and Easter. The idea that Christians allow Jesus to share the spotlight with fictional characters is very hard for us to comprehend. We believe that both holidays are highly commercialized in an attempt to overshadow the “true” significance of both Christmas and Easter. We both also acknowledge the author of this attempt to extract Christ from each holiday is Satan, the father of lies and the god of this world.

I have been reading “Treasuring God in Our Traditions” by Noel Piper and absolutely love to read that other Christians see our logic in keeping Santa Clause out of Christmas. I am highly aware that attacking Santa Clause can spawn a pretty heated argument amongst Christians. I believe this to be due to a sense of entitlement and a lack of using correct logic when deciding to incorporate Santa into a Christian celebration of Jesus Christ.

Noel Piper gives the exact reasons we have for not incorporating Santa into our stories or decorations. First of all, I think we can all agree that fairy tales are fun. However, it is ridiculous to ask our children to believe they are true. Children of pre-school age are literal thinkers and to have Santa next to the manger of Jesus can cause much confusion. I know some of you are thinking, they have no clue. My point exactly. Our children rely on us to tell them the Truth and to teach them the Truth about God and about how they are to live. Not only do they deserve this we are commanded by God Most High to bring them up in HIS ways. For the entirety of my children's lives I must teach them about God and what He requires of them as His children. The idea of Santa and God can be a confusing one as both are given the exact same attributes. Santa Clause has these attributes:

• He's omniscent-he sees everything you do.

• He rewards you if you're good.

• He's omnipresent-at least, he can be everywhere in one night.

• He gives you good gifts.

• He's the most famous “old man in the sky” figure.

However, we as adults know that Santa is not real and therefore no other being possesses these attributes but the Living God. Why would we allow our children to believe that any other person could possibly be “like God”? I have been given many reason and I must be quite frank, it's all a cop-out.

We all know that the story goes that if you are a good little boy or girl Santa will bring you presents. What child do you know who had been bad all year didn't receive presents from Santa anyway? Santa in this respect is not like God at all. God gave us His gift-the gift of His one and only Son-even though we are not good. God gave us His Son so that we could be good. Romans 5:8 says this, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” I think that is a much better gift than any Santa Clause can give. Noel Piper in her book sums it up perfectly, “God gave us this gift to make us good, not because we had proved ourselves good.”

Teaching and helping my children to understand God as much as possible at whatever age they are at, is the most important and primary goal as a Christian parent.

Now to the REAL reason Christians should be celebrating Christmas.

What I find truly fascinating about Jesus' birth are the numerous prophesies of the Messiah's birth in the Old Testament. I pray by the end of this blog that those who are presently incorporating Santa into Christmas will see how much more magnificent Jesus is and throw old Santa in the trash! Here are some pretty profound prophesies of the Messiah and what He would do for us.

Micah 5:2 prophesies of “where” the Messiah would be born.

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, {Too} little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."

Isaiah 7:14 prophesies of the Messiah being born of a virgin.

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

The Messiah's lineage is prophesied in Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 49:10, 2 Samuel 7:12-16 and many other places.

Jeremiah 31:15 prophesies of a massacre of children at the time the Messiah was to be born.

“Thus says the LORD, "A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation {and} bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”

He would be taken to Egypt is prophesied in Hosea 11:1.

“When Israel {was} a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.”

Isaiah 40:3-5 and Malachi 3:1 prophesies that the Messiah will be preceded by a messenger of the Lord.

“A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. "Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see {it} together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.”

The Messiah would preform miracles: give sight to the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, make the lame walk and cause the dumb to speak. This is prophesied in Isaiah 35:5-7.

“Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. The scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass {becomes} reeds and rushes.”

The Messiah would Preach the Good News is prophesied in Isaiah 61:1-2a.

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,”

The year of the Messiah's birth is prophesied in Daniel 9:25. Christ first presented Himself as King 173,880 days from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem.

The Messiah would die a humiliating death is prophesied in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. These two prophesies are very profound and clear about who the author is speaking of when compared to Jesus' death in the New Testament. Psalm 22 was written about 1,000 years before the actual crucification of Christ and Isaiah 53 was written about 700 years before the crucification. At the time that Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 were written crucifixion had not even been invented as a type of punishment.

The Messiah would be resurrected from the dead is prophesied in Psalm 16:10 and Psalm 68:18.

“For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

“Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.”

The list of prophesies goes on and on. There is no question in my mind that Jesus Christ is much more important and should not share the spotlight with any fictional character. God is the ultimate gift-giver and should be given His due praise. I know the look on children's faces when they see the presents under the Christmas tree that they not only think but believe Santa has brought them. The look they have should be because of what God has done and offered them. The type of excitement children have for Santa and presents should be their reaction to Jesus Christ and the gift He brings. How can we teach them the true meaning of who Jesus Christ is when the meaning of Christmas is being watered down with an overweight old man in a red suit?

The Bible is very clear by the ninth commandment that we are not to lie. Teaching our children that there is a Santa Clause that comes to bring presents is a flat out lie. What happens when your child questions the existence of God when they come to learn that you lied to them about Santa. I understand that someone out there is saying “Oh but Santa is innocent fun”. Again, a cop-out. Lying to children is not innocent fun, no matter how you slice it. They will use the logic that, if Santa is not real then God is not real. If Santa is given the same divine attributes as God then you better believe that when the myth of Santa is revealed children will also come to believe that God is a myth.

My parents put on the whole Santa show when my sisters and I were little. I cannot tell you the exact time I came to know that Santa was not real, but I do know when my baby sister was given the information. She had done something to annoy me, and I knew where my mother and step-father were hiding “Santa's stash”. I arrogantly told my baby sister that there was no such thing as Santa and then showed her where mom had the presents...all unwrapped. I of course got in trouble when mom came home for breaking my sister's heart. My attitude was wrong I must admit, but I have to wonder though, did I really do anything wrong? I did tell the truth, and isn't that what we teach our children to do? Something to ponder I guess.

It is no wonder that the vast majority of Christian students in college lose their faith. Atheist do to these young Christian students what I did to my sister. We need to make it our highest priority to equip our children with Truth, even in the early years. Have you ever heard the expression “A little leaven, leavens the whole lump”? I think this applies to the topic.

Also Santa Clause is an insult to the true person of St. Nicolas. St. Nicolas would give money to families so that they wouldn't have to sell their children into prostitution. That speaks much more to Christians than Santa Clause riding this magical sled bringing presents in the middle of the night. You can read an article about the real St. Nicolas at Christianity Today.

I do think it is sad that this man's legacy has been lost on an overweight old man in a flying sled. What an unfavorable way to be immortalized.

As Christians today we cannot compromise, even in what seems small and trivial. The enemy has done a pretty good job at mocking our Lord and His commandments. We cannot continue to give away pieces of our faith and expect to raise a generation with a strong foundation in Biblical Truths and a love for Jesus Christ.

I pray that Jesus Christ the Saviour of this world, who was born in the humblest of ways and put to death for our offenses would be the center and focus of your life in all areas and that you would never compromise Truth for fun.

Merry Christmas!

Serving God and My Family,

Crystal <>< (SAHM)