Christmas In July

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. See! I bring you good news of great joy which is for all people.  Today, One Who saves from the punishment of sin has been born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord.  Luke 2:10-11  NLV

I have to admit I am not a Christmas in July fan. To me there’s just something wrong with watching Christmas movies in the summer. But going through some old devotions I wrote, I found this one and it got me thinking how appropriate it was to be reminded that the Christmas spirit is needed even in July and how it can remind us what a wonderful gift Jesus is to this world.

Hard to believe, but in Great Britain between 1790-1835 The Times newspaper never mentioned Christmas, that’s 45 years! It was as if the Christmas spirit died, it was a dark time. Poverty was rampant, periods of unemployment and famine ravaged society. The bleaker things got, the less kindness and generosity could be found and worse yet, it seemed like no one cared.

Then in 1843 Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol. He was hoping that it would revive kindness, compassion and generosity especially in the government and the upper class. The character of Ebenezer Scrooge was to challenge people to see the change in Scrooge and how much better his life was when he was generous and compassionate than when he was greedy and selfish even though his circumstances had not changed. Wherever his book was read, it seemed to cause people to stop, think and have a change of heart, even if it was temporary.

Looking back over the past year, it seems we have lost our Christmas spirit also.  We have been anything but kind, loving, giving and generous to each other in any way. As a matter of fact you could say we have been just the opposite and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. We seem to be weary and tired of all the issues due to the war in the Middle East, viruses, diseases and natural disasters of hurricanes and wildfires. The social conflict breeds confusion and anger. We go at top speed through life and yet still don’t have enough time in a day. We have more ways to communicate than ever before and yet relationships are shallow simply because we don’t talk with one another anymore. Truth is we are where we are because we’ve forgotten what Christmas and this season really is all about even in July.

Let’s remember that Christmas is all about giving and it all started because God gave His only Son. Luke 6:38 Msg tells us what happens when we have the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back— given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.” 

July may be a great time for this seed to be planted and to water and nurture while waiting for December. We surely need The Life Giver all year long, not just during the Christmas Holiday Season.