What does Christmas means to me

Christmas falls on 24th December every year. Every year we celebrate it by giving gifts. Some of us just celebrate it as a holiday. Now, what does Christmas really means to us?

To some Christmas means Santa Clause and gifts.

To some its time to receive gifts, some time to spend on gifts, to some is both.

To some is to remember Jesus.

Which one of these do you belong to?

Let me provide some history and general facts to it.

1) Santa Clause, does he even exist?
Yes, he does. His real name is Saint Nicolas. This is in history books. Does he exist today? The Santa Clause in our fantasy, the white bread man with some red sleeping cap dressed in red that comes down via the chimney and give gifts...no. Saint Nicholas was renamed Santa Clause for some reason but he is definitely not the reason Christmas is celebrated. For more info, go and look up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus

2) Jesus and gifts
I rather subscribe to this because Jesus is the reason to why we celebrate Christmas. In fact Christmas doesn't fall on 24th December. If it is on 24th December, how can those shepherd and shepherd be out in the open during winter? Its cold out there even in the middle east especially at night. An early reference to the date of the nativity as December 25 is found in the Chronography of 354, an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome in 354. (Wikipedia 2009 taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#Feast_established). Jesus in fact is the reason. He is the reason why we celebrate Christmas. We give gifts because we remember God, our heavenly Father gives us his best gift - the salvation of all mankind, Jesus. That's why we give the best gifts to people. My opinion on why we receive gifts is as a sign we need Jesus and therefore we accept the gift of God.

As for me Christmas is to remember God's sacrifice - Jesus for us. We need Him and because of Him we are redeemed. During Christmas, its not about gifts but rather a remembrance of who God is, a generous Giver who has given us His best and we receive this gift (something given freely). Why gifts? Gifts is something given freely at the expense of the giver. We have to remember that God gave His best. He gave us freely. All we need to do is just to accept.

Why does God want to sacrifice Jesus? Because of sin, we were separated from God, the giver of true life. We may be alive now but are we experiencing abundance, joy, peace and love? Are we sure of where we are going to be after we leave this mortal body of ours? God wants to have a relationship with us. The consequences of sin is death. Something has to die to pay off the consequences of sin. So God gave Jesus, the sinless sacrifice for us to restore us back to God. God will provide us a place in heaven where we will be with Him if we accept Jesus's sacrifice for us.

As for us what should Christmas be? It should be Jesus, God's greatest gift. All we need to do is to accept Him as our personal Savior. Just pray this prayer and believe in your heart that Jesus is your Savior and you will be saved from sin and separation from the Giver of life.
"Lord Jesus, I acknowledge I've fallen short of Your glory due to sin. I need you to save me from my sins that separates me from God so that I can have a personal relationship with God. In Jesus name. Amen." (Amen means I agree)