In modern day thinking we have made truth relative to our circumstances and desires. As Christmas approaches you may hear or get asked the question "What does Christmas mean to you?" Would your answer be based on your circumstances and desires or the facts?
Your past experiences of the Christmas season will give you memories, 
feelings and hopes that will determine how you feel about this coming 
Christmas. They may be experiences of joy and peace, drunken parties 
and the like, or loneliness, fear and sadness. Christmas may be 
something you look forward to or dread the thought of. It could be a 
time when you have plenty of family around but wish you didn't or a 
time when you spend money you can't afford. It could be a time when 
you enjoy spending money on gifts for the family or simply wish you 
had money or family.
All these dynamics come into play centered on our experiences, our 
expectations and the ever-present commercial drive around us. The 
sad part about this is simply that in our efforts to enjoy or get 
through the Christmas season, we are prone to neglect the truth about 
Christmas.
You may be tempted to think this is some religious junk. Nothing is 
further from the truth. Christmas is about "Emmanuel" which means 
"God with us". The essence of Christmas is not religion, parties, 
families, gifts or spending money, although all may be quite 
legitimately involved, the true essence is about God coming to
mankind so that He could be with us and have a relationship with us.
We can do something religious like go to a church service,
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miss the point. It's not about religion it's about relationship. To 
understand the full meaning of Jesus's birth,
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the context of his death at Easter. He was born for the purpose of 
dying in our place on the cross for the cost of our wrongdoing. The 
point of his birth,
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Some people ask, "What's the point of life?" The point of life is for 
the purpose of relationship with God. Have you got the point yet? About the Author 
Ray Burton attends Celebration Christian Fellowship in Havelock North 
and enjoys writing, counselling and evangelism. He has recently 
started a website  where more of his 
work can be found.
Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
 whereby the original author's information and copyright must be included. The Truth about Christmas   by Ray Burton in Non-Profit    (submitted 2005-12-21)