So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow. Acts 18:18

A Christmas follow-up thought on Last Friday’s post: (If you didn’t get to read Friday’s post, or have forgotten, check it out!)

Christmas is a time that is filled with all sorts of traditions—some very Christ-honoring, and some, well, not so much. Is it wrong to enjoy these Christmas traditions that have nothing to do with Christ? I have two answers.

The first answer is that there are many fun and harmless traditions that, while having nothing to do with Christ, are OK for Christians to enjoy. These range from Christmas cookies, to Christmas trees, to exchanging Christmas gifts, to Christmas entertainment (music, movies, and more). As long as we remember that CHRISTmas is about the birth of our Savior, and not about these lesser things, I believe they are okay—and even good! It is about “keeping the main thing the main thing.” It is about not making those other things idols that eclipse or even rival the Lord Jesus.

Here are two ways we can safeguard ourselves from blurring the lines of separation—much less allowing any of the side issues to get an inordinately greater emphasis than the Lord:

Let us invest as much of our time (and $$$?) in the spiritual truth of CHRISTmas, than in the non-Christian trappings. If you can increase your time of devotions (with a CHRISTmas emphasis) during the CHRISTmas season, great. But for heaven’s sake, don’t let it be diminished because of CHRISTmas busyness.
Seize opportunities to speak about CHRIST during the season. I have had more conversations about CHRIST with non-believing people this CHRISTmas season than usual.

There are only a couple more days until CHRISTmas—but it is not too late to do these things.

A second answer, tomorrow!