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That’s right, the spelling of xmas is deliberate. Make no mistake about it, no matter what we have been told, Christ was never in Christmas, therefore xmas is apt. Please allow me to put the case forward in support of abandoning xmas and all things xmassy. After that it is up to you, the reader, to make an informed choice or not.
For the vast majority of my life I have celebrated this time of year albeit in ignorance, because I just joined in with everyone else as the whole world is doing it, right!? It felt good giving presents and getting them for the most part. Surely this is not a bad thing? Giving to others is nice but not when it is done just because everyone else is giving and it is considered the thing to do, and then many are in debt because we cannot really afford all the things xmas promoters say we must buy. Some people still have debt from the previous xmas that they have not been able to pay off on their credit cards. This is not how things should be. Giving gifts should have genuine motives.
Many these days give gift cards with a certain monetary amount loaded onto the card so that people can get what they really want — I ask myself, why bother? Perhaps everyone should bypass this and just buy expensive trinkets for themselves on their credit cards and be done with it! My attempt at sarcasm. It was never like this when I grew up as people took time, thought and effort to choose appropriately. We would not know how much people spent on the gifts but knew when thought had gone into the process and therefore just how much they cared. Whatever happened to “it is the thought that counts” rather than giving to keep up with others and outdo each other? Should we really feel the need to impress at this time of year? It seems to say to me look at me, I’ve done really well for myself, like me, accept me, look up to me as I can afford stuff that most only dream about. This is rather sad and hollow.
My memories are of upset family members who didn’t get what they wanted or were critical of others’ gifts, which started arguments with unfortunate words said in anger and a spirit of competition. The fact is nobody can buy the same value in all gifts as that is just not realistic. Even though for the most part family tried their best, it still did not work out. Then there was the matter of the arrival time. Look out if you did not turn up at the front door on time or even a little early as that was considered the right thing to do, otherwise, just a few minutes late would really offend one side of our family. They perceived this as spending too much time at the other grandparents home and jealousy would rear its ugly head. The expectations were set too high and the tension in the air was palpable. Everything had to go “just right” otherwise some tempers flared.
Usually the time spent joining in around the dining table over the xmas lunch or dinner was fine but then afterwards things would sometimes turn rather ugly due to excessive indulgence from alcoholic beverages by some of the adults. Family wanted to enjoy themselves but some didn’t exercise self control when faced with provision of hearty fare and nice tasting substances, which invariably loosened a few tongues and thereby exposed unwanted and disinhibited behaviours. The outcome was a recipe for disaster with some getting sick, sleeping it off, suffering through hang-overs and the unwanted side effects of these. Even though our intentions can be good, at the same time, the reality says we fall short.
As kids my memory holds strongly regarding eating the xmas pudding not because I really liked it — it was okay but it had all this funny tasting brandy stuff on it — but to get a shiny, silver sixpence which is probably today’s equivalent of a five cent piece. There was just something magical about this to a child. How did all these coins get inside a big fruit pudding anyway? One of Granny’s secretive mysteries. No wonder some memories have a huge pull even now for us as adults. What about those of us who know xmas is fully associated with ancient pagan practices and rituals? Would it be wrong to turn up to family gatherings to enjoy all the “good stuff” on xmas day, have a few laughs, pull the xmas cracker, read the joke, wear our xmas paper hat that just coincidentally resembles a crown, for we can easily justify that it is great to keep familial relationships in good order, and after all we are not really celebrating xmas. Oh how our wicked hearts just love to justify anything (Jeremiah 17:9). Ask yourself this — do your worldly family/adult children keep the weekly Sabbath with you to gain those feel good moments? I don’t think so. So why do any of us compromise? One day they will ask you why you did this. If we listen carefully enough by paying attention we can hear God saying “Come out of her, My people” from Revelation 18:4.
Of course we need to include family in our lives in a most loving way but not at the expense of compromise. How about inviting them over on a Sunday afternoon for the traditional lamb roast or whenever suits. So many days we could choose from and there is absolutely no need to join together on xmas day as this shows God where your heart is — still back in the hedonistic land of Egypt. Reminds me of Lot's wife who just had to look back wistfully, longingly. We are currently learning to love God more than ourselves and any other individual in this world. If we cannot put God first then that is a huge test and lesson we must learn and could cost us a high price, the ultimate and devastating price of words I never want to hear from Jesus Christ, found in Matthew 7:23.
Yes, this is certainly compromise no matter how one wants to consider things while moving the proverbial issue around inside the “crystal ball” — whether sideways, upside down, or from any angle or perspective in order to look inside and determine for themselves what is right or wrong. This is exactly how the church at Thyatira behaved — loving people so much they focussed on love but to the detriment of not loving God first (Revelation 2:18-29). Imbalance occurred and they were strongly admonished for their sin. Remember we must not decide for ourselves what looks or seems right in our own eyes. The Bible tells us not to lean on our own understanding in Proverbs 3:5-6. Then there is the matter of living in the world but being separate. We cannot be half hearted by attending xmas lunches or dinners or gatherings to please our family. Many of us probably did so especially in the first year or two of becoming converted but then quickly realised the folly of this and wholeheartedly repented of the sin of compromise.
Despite all the things that can potentially go wrong and some do, the fact is we can be ignorant of the real origins of xmas and I was. Does it even matter as long as we are trying to have a good time? All those years ago trusting my parents explicitly, and never once did I have a reason to even think or question that they would tell me a lie; well this was part of life going along with the rest of the world. But they did. Some would say a “little white lie” is okay but it isn’t and never is as inevitably somebody will get hurt — there are always consequences even if we cannot realise what these are at the time. A lie is a lie whether attached to good intentions or not. No wonder God includes 1bearing false witness as part of His 10 Commandments. I’m not sure how long it was before I forgave my parents for deceiving me deliberately but I think continuing to receive presents might have had something to do with it. My hurt came along in 1969 from a “little white lie”.
I still remember the day that kids at school told me Father Christmas or Santa Claus is not real but made up. I stood there in absolute shock because it wasn’t just one but several children confirming my worst fear — how could I be so stupid to believe such a lie and for 10 years at that. As I stood there dumbfounded on the playground I mentally wrestled with this astounding revelation. My eyes stung with hot tears threatening to burst through the barrier I was desperately trying to hold in place, so that all the kids would not see me cry like a baby. I managed to get away to think about all the things my parents and grandparents did in order to perpetuate such an elaborate lie. Many things just did not make any sense to me. Disbelief and shock turned to anger and disgust as my heart was wounded because those I trusted most, deceived me. I felt betrayed. Things could and would never be the same again. When I got home from school I told my parents what I learnt that day and they didn’t deny it. This was even further confirmation that I had indeed been duped and felt like some sort of silly fool by unwittingly allowing the jokers and jesters to toy with my emotions by throwing me onto a pile of rubbish to lie there in the filth and stench of worldly decay. It seemed like the whole entire world knew that the old man in the red suit was make believe, except for me!
Over 50 years later these memories are still vivid. Parents well and truly forgiven. Very rarely do I think upon these things except for this time of year when almost the whole world celebrates xmas day whether in ignorance or deliberately, not caring because they know Christ was not born on or anywhere near the 25th day of December, or they don’t believe in Christ anyway, or they really do think Christ is still in Christmas. They are all sadly deceived like I once was and it is a massive deception. Who in their right mind would say...imagine that a fallen angel once named Lucifer, now a demon known as Satan the devil, would pull off a huge trick on billions and billions of people so that they actively want to celebrate a pagan event on a particular day every year thinking they are doing something good, but instead they are worshipping a demon. And to top it all off, once they know that it isn’t right they still do it anyway by justifying their behaviour. Many of these people are intelligent and can easily look up the origins of xmas if they choose to do so, but don’t because they either do not care or are too busy with living life and having fun because fun is important to them.
The thing is xmas feels good, really good when everything goes right, much too good to give up but there is just one problem — it isn’t good on any level at all because of what it represents and this is important to God. Now I know one of the reasons related to scripture where the Bible says for us not to call anyone on earth Father, as this is reserved for God our Father in heaven (Matthew 23:9). Of course we have physical fathers we may call Dad or Daddy and they are our fathers too but God was referring to anyone teaching about God and His way. The devil knows the Bible inside and out and much better than any human so what does he do — he ensures that priests and false clergy are referred to as Father just to throw this insult into God’s face as a sign of rebellion and wanting his way, his authority, his pride and ego to be number one. Father Christmas is a further affront, indignity, offence, taunt and fully disrespectful to God, and the devil absolutely delights in his perverted revelry.
It seems that humanity’s eventual wake up call will be even more shocking than mine was when my whole world seemed to fall apart and disintegrate in the space of a few minutes. Hard to imagine anything more upsetting than how the news was delivered to me through what I experienced at such a tender young age. How would one react or feel if this happened after keeping xmas for 70 years, as this is about the average span of a lifetime; then that would surely be even more disturbing than my mere 10 years of accepting this lie on an impressionable, trusting mind. Imagine keeping xmas for the whole of your life to find out it was all a huge lie after being resurrected from the grave. I cannot imagine it. Shattered to pieces as I was, amazingly this has been turned around completely 14 years ago and to my advantage now, and to say that I am deeply and profoundly thankful is a complete understatement. Mercifully, my escape and subsequent release from conforming to all the pressures of xmas came unexpectedly, another event I never anticipated.
During 2006 and 2007 I learnt the truth about all the pagan holidays such as xmas, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, May Day/Walpurgis Night, Halloween, and All Saints Day. There are 7 times each year for these festivals and this number is no coincidence as it is to match or rival the festivals of God. Whatever God has put in place or instituted for His people, the devil brings his counterfeit celebrations as he desires worship and hates to be outdone. So instead of worshipping God, our true Creator, the enemy puts in place other days of worship by subtly influencing people into believing that they are more desirous and designed to appeal to humanity and our desire for fun and plenty of excitement. People do not even realise what he has done as they do not see the devil causing all this confusion as the supernatural world is invisible. What is worse is that all the thoughts and attitudes he tries to hook into people’s minds and hearts are then genuinely thought to be of their own volition. This is incredibly tragic to me as it feeds into life altering events such as suicide which noticeably increases at this time each year.
The devil knows our weaknesses and proclivity for sin through overindulgence in wine, food, revelry and so on. To learn that xmas was a pagan festival steeped in perverted debauchery which had nothing to do with God was a true awakening for me and very welcome as an adult — for I was ready to hear the truth. As a child it was difficult, and even though not ready for it, was suddenly faced with the truth as it was forced on me — I did not ask for it but rather enjoyed the lie that felt like truth to me as I’m sure many do. How could I know otherwise? Every part of society went along with xmas willingly. In school we made xmas decorations, friends and family would ask what would we like for xmas and encouraged us to make a list. Then there were those visits to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what we wanted. There were trees and coloured lights everywhere while clever and tantalisingly catchy xmas jingles played in the stores. When out driving with our family after dark visiting various relatives, the three of us would feast our eyes while counting all the brightly lit xmas trees in the front windows of people’s homes to see who could count the most. I well remember the drive between Glenelg and Seaton past the Adelaide Airport with the beautiful beaches skirting us to the west while the hills beyond the city faced us on the east — this was one of my favourite memories. I loved it all until I learned the truth. Now I react to the thought of keeping xmas with the revulsion and repulsion it deserves as I can clearly see what is under all the brightly coloured wrapping paper — something to be shunned, as it is not Godly in any way. Quite the opposite. The festival of xmas is demonic and is a filthy insult to God.
Do you want the truth? The truth is that Jesus Christ was not born on December 25. You can read the Bible from cover to cover and will not find His exact birthdate. What will we find instead? Several clues to show that the birth of Jesus took place in the autumn of the northern hemisphere since he lived in Jerusalem. Don’t you think that if God wanted us to celebrate and commemorate His Son’s birthday we would know when this is? We know when He was sacrificed for our sins on the day He died and this is to be remembered with awe, respect, and grateful thankfulness. That is why God gives us the Passover and The Days of Unleavened Bread, in the spring where Christ died, in the northern hemisphere. These two festivals occur side by side and are then followed by Pentecost some 50 days later, while the Feast of Trumpets, Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and The Last Great Day all fall in the autumnal months of September and October thereby completing the 7 annual holy day festivals of God.
What holds many back from discovering the truth is pressure from family, pressures of various time constraints, a myriad of information on the internet that needs careful navigation as much of it is lies — deception weaved in with truth on the world wide web in order to prevent people from wanting to stay the course and rightly divide what is false and what is right. The world is full of lies and deception orchestrated by the evil spirit of Satan the devil who will do everything he can to prevent all human beings from learning the Truth. It seems an enormous impossibility unless you want to turn from your ways and actively seek out God to help you. Is it worth it? You bet it is!
If you have even one niggling doubt about this season and feel empty, unfulfilled by these celebrations you have just engaged in then I would greatly encourage you to talk to God, read your Bible — perhaps start in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, then go from there. There are quite a few clues as to the birth of Jesus here. Another helpful course of action to take is to watch Beyond Today on TV or google this to put in keywords such as xmas. Then there is an excellent booklet entitled “Holy Days or Holidays?” to read and which explains everything historically that happened many years ago before we were born to live in this modern age. Once you have done that then at least you will be correctly advised and be able to make a fully informed decision on whether you will go on keeping the pagan event of xmas. I hope you will make the right decision for your life. The freedom of relinquishing false worship is so peaceful and healing; there is nothing like it to compare. Over the years when various staff in the shops have wished me a happy or merry xmas at the checkout, and I have replied with a simple “thank you, but I don’t keep xmas” so many of these supermarket workers have responded to me with these words “You’re so lucky...I wish I did not have to keep xmas”. I smile and think to myself, no, not lucky at all but incredibly Blessed. God has released me from all the trappings that come with xmas. May God help you to discover the Truth.