I guess the spirit of Christmas is giving presents and family gatherings. There's nothing wrong with them if our hearts are in the right place. Over the years, I have seen shallow observance of the birth of Christ and
superficial worship finds no place of acceptance with Him. We live in a fallen world, and that much of what is around us is pagan, or of pagan origin. The Bible did not commanded to honor or celebrate His birth. Think of the Christmas carols,they're filled with invitations. "Come let us adore Him." "Then let us all with one accord sing praises to our heavenly Lord." What ever your response is to Jesus Christ determines your destiny.
In the United States, there is a "money monopoly" which defines that we "free" to earn as much "money" as we want. Excessive greed have driven United States to the lowest level. There are those who have this blind desire to accumulate wealth that can never be satisfied. Gandhi was correct when he said "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed". There are those who do not accept moral laws in their hearts: you will not steal; you will not bear false witness (lie, deceive, defraud); and you will not covet. Lately, when you hear and read the news, that's all you see.
In the New Testament, Judas was an ungodly, ambitious, selfish man. He could have come to Jesus, but he didn’t. Judas is an example and the greatest story of lost opportunity the world has ever, ever heard. Someone said this quote: “Man as of old by himself is priced. For thirty pieces Judas sold himself, not Christ.”
You see greed everywhere, including on TV where you see Word of Faith preachers who are using "prosperity" to attract people with itching ears so they will be motivated by greed for themselves rather than sound spiritual doctrine. I am reminded of this verse: For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. — 2 Timothy 4:3. Such teachers only want your money. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money 2 Peter 2:3 (NLT). A.W. Tozer: We are against this world's greed and sinful ambitions. We are against this world's vices and its carnal habits.
I understand this verse much better than I did when I was younger: Ephesians 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Greed surrounds us. A person's heart is always found running in the direction of his/her desires. The heart that desires often leads a person towards the wrong direction. Our hearts are like a garden and will always have weeds and insects. To expect the fruits and flowers bloom in an untended heart by following flesh's desires that leads to downfall. Worst, unsaved. The condition of the heart determines how receptive we are to God. We may know a lot about God but we don't want to follow God. God's divine circumstances can turn or don't turn people to God. People may despise it instead of embracing it. Romans 9:18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to Garden.
During Christmas and Easter, we seize this opportunity afforded us by Divine providence to tell people who Christ is, why He came into this world, what He did, and they may be convicted by the Holy Spirit to be understand His salvation. It is no accident that once every year every human being in the world is confronted with the fact that the Son of God assumed human flesh and came into the world to save men. The heart of Christmas is this, Christ came into the world to save sinners.
So, what do we really think about during Christmas?
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