One of the things going on in our society and culture today is the debate over Christmas and the use of the word “Christ” and the Christian symbolism and meaning. Growing up in the rural South, right smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt, I find it hard for me to even be engaged in the debate.

There is really no debate. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and how He came to this earth in the form of a man to eventually pay a ransom for my sin and provide a way for eternal life for a lost and dying world.

I do not apologize for my belief. It is what I believe. Jesus has made a difference in my life, and that difference has been for a good. So, for me Christmas is a reminder of what Jesus has done for me. It is a time when I am to think about what my life would have been like without him.

As I look back to that time, it is with unpleasant thoughts of who I was and what I might have been if Christ had not come into my life. I have said for years that if I had not found Christ and surrendered my life to Him as a young man and without the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, I would probably have ended up dead or in Angola. The truth is I was headed in the wrong direction.

Another truth that Christmas reminds me of is that the Lord doesn’t just bestow on me gifts just in the month of December. The Lord has blessed my life with so much that I cannot begin to count.

I am reminded this Christmas Season about an old hymn. It is not one sang during Christmas time. The song that comes to my mind is “Count Your Blessings.” Some of the words are:

“When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

The truth is life is often a tempest. It is hard and difficult. And unfortunately, the world has made Christmas time one of the most difficult. The truth is that our society wants to and has to some extent, redefine what Christmas is.

The truth is because of the overwhelming expectations put upon us at Christmas it is hard on us. Expectations such as an over scheduled calendar of events. You know what I’m talking about, office parties, friend parties, church parties, and family parties, and don’t forget to throw in there all the decorating, cooking, and shopping.

Another expectation that causes us much stress is the financial expectations of gifts. You know someone gives you a gift and you have to return the favor and it must be just as expensive or more than what you receive. Another form of undue expectations is (remember in the previous paragraph about the parties) the cost of the gift you have to buy for these parties.

I remember when you were to bring a five-dollar gift for some game you would play. Not now. Later this month I will attend an office party and we have to bring a twenty- five-dollar gift. When we are feeling pressure about material wealth, as we often do during this time of year, when we look at what everyone else has and begin to be discouraged because we don’t have what someone else has, think of the words from the aforementioned song. It is the third verse, the one no one sings so you might not be familiar with it. But it goes like this:

“When you look at others with their lands and gold, think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold; count your many blessings, money cannot buy your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.”

Count your many blessings and you will have a Merry Christmas!