Tyrone News
By PRISCILLA MAXWELL Please call 706-678-7657

I want to wish each of you a safe and enjoyable Christmas 2006, with family and friends as we celebrate the birthday of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Historians are unsure exactly when Christmas first began to celebrate the nativity of Christ. However, most scholars believe that Christmas originated in the Fourth Century as a Christian substitute for the pagan Festival of Saturn celebration of the winter solstice.

Christmas is now celebrated on December 25 in Catholic, Protestant, and most orthodox churches; and the Coptic, Jerusalem, Russian, Serbian, Macedonian, and Georgian Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on January 7.

Some scholars suggest that December 25 is a date of convenience chosen for other reasons related to the time of Roman Emperor Constantine. December 25 in the Roman world was the Natalls Solis Invici, the birthday of the unconquerable sun, but it may not have been as early as Christmas, if it was a Roman reaction to the church being persecuted then. It may have served as an attempt to eclipse a previous devotion of Christians, amidst attempts to kill all Christians. It is said that many of the earliest Christians were destroyed.

Today the celebration of the birth of the Messiah matters a lot more than when or why December 25 is the day chosen. The Bible, the greatest of all books, tells us what we really need to know in the book of Matthew, Chapter 2. It begins, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” The wise men were seeking the new “King of the Jews.” They had observed “His star in the east.”

Scientists today have proposed several theories about the movement of the stars and planets in the time of Jesus’ birth. Matthew didn’t give any such details but those of us who believe God’s word and study it can clearly tell that God guided these Gentiles to the birthplace as we find in other scriptures such as Luke.

I wonder how many of us would be willing, like the wisemen, to travel a great distance to honor Jesus. John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world, that he sent his only begotten Son into the world that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,”

We can find many treasures in God’s word. As we celebrate this special time of the year after a great harvest, let us remember, this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24. Also that each of us is a lifelong gift from Him and how we choose to live our life is our gift to Him.

Merry Christmas.

Reader Comments

No comments have been posted. Be the first!

Other Stories With Comments:
Article	Comments
The Office Cat	2
Neighborhood vandalism is out of control	1
The Office Cat	1
Drug problem growing; little is being done	1
The Office Cat	1
Family escapes death in semi hit-and-run	1
Feed a family of four for $10 a week	1