adminPastor Kilton Moyo
THE year has moved so fast and we are right at the end. I try to look back to find out how I used the 12 months God blessed me with and at least I can take solace on the fact that I wrote to readers through this paper every Sunday for the last two months of the year and every Thursday through the other papers for the whole year. At least somebody got something valuable and a life might have been transformed.
If I were to give you a chance to evaluate how you spent 12 months, what will it look like? That is your choice. Praise God, it is that time of the year we call Christmas where everyone is jovial and excited and wanting out. Of late I have been asking myself if we really do understand what Christmas is all about. I am told it is about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and well, this is awesome.
Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of our Saviour and we have done this for centuries. The Birth is in the Bible but “Christmas” the way we do it is not in the Bible but we choose to celebrate anyway. However, my challenge is in the celebrations we do. Is what we do really befitting the message of the Christmas period? The world over celebrates. Some will go to church to attend services. Others will visit friends and relatives far away. Many will go on holiday etc. I have no problem with all this.
There are others who celebrate this day with boozing and drinking themselves to half dead. Others will squander all their monies in orgies, drugs and other things. Many will be generous with their bodies in the spirit of Christmas. Others will commit crime and violate society. Youths will get drunk and become a nuisance in the community, insult people and get hurt in the process. Some fathers will get too excited and disappear with money, leaving families stranded.
Businesses increase their prices as they seek to double profits. Let me not mention public transport that will harass passengers and even kill some, all in the spirit of Christmas. Workers get bonuses and some spend it all in minutes as excitement is high everywhere. All this is to celebrate Christmas. This is what confounds me. I ask myself this one question.
“If the owner of the birthday was here, how would he celebrate it?” I am not sure but your guess is as good as mine.
I thought our celebrations should reflect the spirit and the character of what we are celebrating. Surely this is a man who was born to take away the sins of the world and how dare the world will celebrate his birth by committing sin. It’s a paradox. Our celebrations should bring us closer to the heart and mission of this birthday. After celebrating and you find yourself miles away, then something is wrong. This is why I want to suggest that we all understand this gift from God.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting Life.” John 3:16. This is a gift to humanity and we rightfully celebrate it. But have you received this gift personally?
Remember that this is a “whosoever” gift. It’s a personal gift. It is not necessarily a family or congregational gift but you receive it personally. My concern is we celebrate at the level of religion and miss the personal connection with the gift. Before you go out celebrating, make sure you have the gift. It’s your gift but until you receive it, it is just a gift.
This year, may this gift have meaning into your life. May it accomplish its purpose in your life. It can only do so if you embrace it personally and understand its meaning, purpose and mission. As one who advocates for the unity in the family, may I suggest to you that you have time together as a family and embrace the Christ of God as your gift? Give your lives to Christ and allow Him to work through. In doing this, you will have a true Christmas this year. My desire is for us all to have the true meaning of Christmas in our lives. It is easier to do so at family level. If we all get to this point, we will eradicate the paganism and carnality in the Christmas celebrations.
In Mathew 2:11 when the wise men (shepherds) had found Jesus, the Bible says that they fell down and “worshiped Him” and then opened their treasures and gave gifts to Him. They celebrated him by worshiping Him who was born King. They celebrated by giving gifts. I think this should form the basis of our celebrations at Christmas. We can worship Him by giving love to a hurting world and to a needy world. We can worship Him by giving gifts to the needy everywhere witnessing the love of God. We can celebrate by choosing to do good to one another everywhere making peace with all men. Tomorrow on the 21st we are celebrating Christmas with the San Community in Tsholotsho, giving gifts and love to a needy community at Christmas. This probably should be our approach in the coming years.
The biggest worship you can give to Jesus at Christmas is to give your life to Him. It starts there otherwise just celebrating is a worthless religious activity. This is the reason I encourage you to get the gift yourself and then give more of your gifts in true worship. Have you received the gift?
Happy Christmas Zimbabwe! Let Christ live in your heart as a nation and see His salvation from this generation to the last. God bless you all.
Kilton Moyo is creator of Fruitful Marriages, a renewal and enrichment programme and is pastor, counsellor and author of The Sex Trap. Call or WhatsApp on +263775337207, +263772610103 or +263712384841 [email protected]
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