To the editor:

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more.” We can hope and pray Americans learn what Dr. Seuss wrote the Grinch learned. The Christmas holiday has strayed from its religious roots and observances. Surveys found that the majority believe that the religious aspects of the Christmas holiday, the Christian celebration of Jesus birth in Bethlehem, are emphasized less than they were in the past.
America honors Jesus less than ever before. The Bible says in all your ways acknowledge and honor Jesus. Christians want people to know what they’re for and the main thing we are for is Jesus Christ. So Christians want to keep Jesus Christ in Christmas and everything else. Because Christmas is one of the few times that the world stops to consider spiritual truths, Christians have an opportunity and obligation to invite friends and family to church and let them know our greatest cause for rejoicing is in celebrating God’s gift of His son, Jesus!
The birth of Jesus was the only event in history that had the importance to change time and restart the calendar. Jesus changed the world for the better, one life at a time. It began with our first picture of Jesus as a baby in a manger. The baby in the manger makes a beautiful Christmas scene, but don’t leave Jesus there. Have a relationship with Jesus and He will change you and restart your life just like He changed time and restarted the calendar. For a life-changing positive impact, Jesus reigns supreme, no one even comes close!
After Christmas Americans will be complaining about standing in line to return gifts they didn’t want. They should be thankful they received something they could return. The average American child would be thrilled to wake up to find in his stocking one piece of candy and one piece of fruit 200 years ago. That was all. His mother might receive one handkerchief and father nothing. Prosperity hasn’t made us better people. If you don’t get all the gifts you wanted remember it’s not your birthday anyway…
We live in a time and world where desires and goals are temporary and based on material things rather than on Jesus. In contrast, Jesus gives stability, structure, significance, joy, peace, hope, purpose, and eternal life. The Bible says every good gift comes from Jesus and Jesus holds everything together. All our gifts under the tree are temporal in nature just like all our belongings. In a day they can be taken from us through flood, earthquake, economic depression, thieves, terrorist, fire or any means God allows.
Material blessings are ours to use and care for but not to clutch tightly in our hands. Only God can keep a cherished treasured possession forever. The Bible says God’s children are His treasured possession. We are all God’s creation but many wrongly say we are all children of God. The Bible says in Galations 3:26, “We are sons of God through faith in Jesus.” However much money we make or things we accumulate, at the moment of death we have zero income and no things. We can’t take it with us. However, if we trust Jesus and make Jesus our Savior and Lord, Jesus will take us with Him. Who needs Christmas presents under the tree when you have Jesus’ presence in you? Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season. Hold tightly to no gift but Jesus, who holds you now and forever!

D.D. Nave
Elizabethton