Why I Don’t Keep Christmas

It may seem odd that a Christian, of all people, would choose not to celebrate Christmas. After all, Christ’s name is in the word Christmas, right?

But it doesn’t take long when researching Christmas to discover that it got its start thousands of years before Christ and is steeped in paganism.

I am not here to convince you of this—a simple Google search will show you what I only touch upon below, but I am here to tell you that there are those who follow Christ with all their heart, soul, and mind who do not keep Christmas out of deep respect for and reverential fear of Almighty God.

Many of you may not be aware that:

1. In pre-Christian Rome, Saturnalia (named after their deity, Saturn), was a week-long observance in honor of the Winter Solstice with the sun-god Mithra’s December 25th birthday being the most sacred day. Subsequently, Yuletide is the Norse and Celtic version of Saturnalia.
2. Four centuries after Christ when the Romans adopted Christianity as their state religion, they changed the name from Saturnalia to Christmas to make what they were already celebrating more appealing and acceptable to the newly converted Christians of the day. The Roman Catholic Church was more concerned with filling their coffers and keeping their power than with adhering to biblical truth and did the same thing—mixing religious traditions with the local pagan customs—with Easter, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day.
3. It is a fact that no one knows the exact date of Christ’s birth, but in Luke 2:8 the Bible says, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Shepherds were not in the fields in late December in that region because it would have been too cold and rainy for them and their livestock. According to many Bible scholars, mid-September to October is a more likely date.
4. In Jeremiah 10:2–4, a striking similarity to the Christmas tree is mentioned hundreds of years before Christ: “Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way if the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the workman with the axe. They deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammer that it move not.”

Continued research will uncover more startling facts: Santa Claus, gift exchange, Yule logs, kissing under the mistletoe, and other Christmas traditions can all be traced back to their pagan roots.

I know many say they want to restore the “true meaning” of Christmas.

 

But you can’t restore Christ, or put Him back, when He wasn’t there to begin with.

 

I know many say they aren’t worshiping old pagan customs but Jesus Christ.

 

Then why do we need to start with an ungodly template—Christmas—and build from there, adding, subtracting, restoring, and replacing to worship Him?

 

If God wanted us to celebrate His Son’s birth, we would know the precise date and God would have left no doubt in His word. We would not have needed a pagan holiday to achieve this.

In Ezekiel 22:26, God made it very clear we are not to mix the holy with the profane.

 

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (Ezekiel 22:26)

 

Christ Himself in Matthew 15:9 said, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.”

Then how are we to worship Him?

 

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23–24)

 

My husband and I strive to worship God this way.

Free from the tinsel and stockings, gift wrap, and debt. Free from the trappings of the world and the commonly held, but erroneous beliefs of the day.

Even if that means sailing against the prevailing winds, and being all the more peculiar of the peculiar people.

 

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

 

My purpose in writing this is not to offend.

I realize there are many sincere Christians who celebrate Christmas who have never been aware of its beginnings.

But oftentimes, people—Christians included—blindly go along with what everybody else is doing without knowing why. Or if they do learn, would prefer that that pesky truth not upset their happy-cart.

This so-called “Christian” holiday with its heart-tugging music and mesmerizing lights can become more important to us than seeking God’s revealed truth. All the feel-good emotions it creates does us no good if we step outside of God’s will for our lives for the sake of long-held family traditions.

 

 

Dear Christian, we are all part of God’s family at different stages of growth.

We must act on the truth that God has shown us without fear of man (be they mothers, fathers, neighbors, friends, or even our very own children).

And having a good conscience toward God, we must go forward, bravely and obediently, with the knowledge each one of us has been given.

 

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:17–18)

 

Abiding in the Vine,

~ Gleniece 

 

The post “Why I Don’t Keep Christmas” first appeared on Desert Rain.

You can learn the eye-opening origins of Easter, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day in these posts.

To stay up to date on all Desert Rain content, consider signing up for my Abide & Blossom newsletter for the weary Christian woman. Thank you!

Would you like to share this post?