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NASB | Jeremiah 10:1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Jeremiah 10:1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. |
Subject: Christmas |
Bible Note: What a strange idea! Yet we hear it so often. We have been free to change the types of clothes we wear and our mode of transportation and the silverware we use. Therefore we are also free to invent religious ceremonies or import strange practices into the church. We can take any pagan practice and put an X in front of it and that makes it good for us to do. Since life continues to bring changes, and the accoutrements we use continue to evolve, is there any limit to what we can add or change in the church? There are some who say they celebrate Christmas by recalling what the Bible says about the birth of Christ. That sounds better. The admit that the Lord never asked us to celebrate his birth, but they feel free to do it because he did not prohibit it. Some of us wonder if they will one day decide to all climb trees on Fridays since that is not prohibited either. There is a rumor that the Druids used to do it and some Christians have thought it might be a good idea since Jesus was hung on a tree on such a day. But God has not left it up to us to decide what we should remember and celebrate and do. He tells us what he wants. That is why we remember his death. He said "This do". That is why we preach the Gospel. He said, "Go ... and preach the Gospel". That is why we baptize new believers. He said, " ... baptizing them in the name of the Father ...". Are we free to add other sacraments and celebrations ad infinitum to our liking whether or not the Lord requires them? That is the question. People who celebrate Christmas will likely continue to do so regardless of what we say here. But some of us will let it be known, for what it is worth, that we stopped celebrating Christmas when we found out about the origin of the practice. |