Post Christmas Dejection

Friends or relatives, who stayed over Christmas, have gone and the house has been cleaned and it looks like nothing out the ordinary occurred. Fleeting thoughts about credit card bills and depleted bank accounts are swept aside with a mind broom.

A sigh of relief escapes, yes, Christmas is over for another year.

Is this all there is to Christmas?

In the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season what's happened to the peace of the stable in Bethlehem? The Prince of Peace once lay in that manger, as a divine gift to a world without hope.

Without hope is the way some may feel after Christmas. The adrenaline rush initiated before Christmas through shopping, programs, decorating, getting ready for company and whatever is gone, and dejection reigns.

Has something been missed in the Christmas story that explains why dejection sometimes accompanies the end of the Christmas season? I think so and it's one word, worship. I want to dissect one sentence, in the Bible's Christmas story, and discuss what it says about worship and compare it to much of today's Christmas worship.

Matthew 2: 11 record's the visit of the wise men to Jesus' birthplace, "And when they had come into the house they saw the young Child with Mary His mother and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense and myrrh."

First, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance translates the usage of "worshipped" as "to prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore)" In other words the wise men lay on the ground in submission to the baby Jesus.

Next, they gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Gold, being a precious metal, was reserved for solemn and important occasions and represented stability, authority and respect. Gold was given to the baby Jesus as a sign of worship.

They also gave Him the incenses of frankincense and myrrh. In religious ceremonies incense was used to purify a temple, in honor of a visit from God. The wise men knew, with the baby Jesus, even though they were in a stable they were in the presence of God. The giving of frankincense and myrrh represented worship.

So, the Bible records the wise men worshiped the baby Jesus in humility, submission, awe, respect, and honor.

How does that compare to how Christmas time is approached today? What do we worship? Is it the incarnation of God, or sale bills and plastic? Is Christmas approached with prayerful purification of our lives, in the presence of a sovereign God, or do we immerse ourselves in black Friday's or shopping and exchanging the day after Christmas? Do we prostrate ourselves in front of "what's" or is it a "Who"?

If being dejected is a sign Christmas is over it could be a symptom the object of Christmas is not being worshipped as it should. Christmas, and the stable in Bethlehem represent peace and quietness, because God is there. Worship Him.

The Holy Bible, NKJV

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible