Christmas time is here again!

Christmas time is here again. Every year, come the month of December, every shopping complexes will be decorated and lit up. I just came back from a trip to the province of Yunan in China. When I travel from Kunming to Dali and then to Lijiang I could not find a single church building along the way. There are numerous temples and some buildings that look like mosque to me. But when I reached the cities all the modern complexes that I went to were decorated with a christmas tree and some lights.

It makes me wonder. Do the local residents know what is Christmas? Do they know the real meaning of Christmas? Back home in Malaysia all major and medium size shopping complexes are also decorated for Christmas. I noticed that this year the decorations are not so lavish. They are quite subdued. Probably it is due to the economic downturn in progress. Does Christmas depends on the economic health of the nations? It looks like the answer is both "Yes" and "No" depending on who you are. It really actually goes down to what you believe in.

If you think of Christmas as the time of the year for merriment and getting drunk occasionally and it is also the time of the year that is alright to throw away your good jugdement and embrace insanity for a while; if you think it is the time of the year that you must buy something for someone just like the advertisement is drumming into you or if you think that it is when you can make an extra bundle of money because you are selling something that is in demand during this season then your joy will very much depends on the economic health of the nations.

But to me Christmas means a very different thing to me. Oh yes! I do believe in merriment and celebration and buying gifts for someone you love. To me Christmas means much more than commercial values or even superficial personal enjoyment for a few days. It means a new hope for all mankind. It was at the first Christmas about two thousands years ago that a new hope was born to mankind. That hope does not last only for one day. It last for eternity. It was on that day that God in His wisdom became man in order that man can have the hope of being reconciled to Him. On that day Jesus was born so that He can bear all our sins in order that we can eventually be reconciled to God. And Jesus achieved this thirty three and a half years later by dying on the cross on Good Friday. He then conquered death by rising again after three days on Easter Sunday so that whosoever believe in Him and invite Him into his heart to be his/her personal saviour shall have everlasting life with God!

This is why Christmas means a new hope for me. Yes, it is a joyous occasion. We should celebrate. There should be merriment. There should be singing and dancing and praising God. Please do not get drunk and make a fool of youself. Let me wish you a blessed Christmas. When you are blessed there is certainly merriment and celebration around. I do not know how you can be blessed and go around with long 'papaya' face and be a grouchy guy all the time.

Yes it is a time of giving because you are blessed. But please give to the needy and give sensibly. Do not waste your money on things that is of little value to anyone except the sellers. It is a time to remember the less fortunate than us and continue remembering them throughout the year; not just on Christmas day itself.

To me Christmas does not depend on your financial health. If you have Jesus in your heart there is joy all year round. I do not mean you will have no problems. Everyone has problems. The difference is that there is joy in the midst of the problems. Inflation or recession may come but joy shall fill my heart because of the new hope that Jesus came to give.



Once again blessed Christmas to you!!!!!!!