(Or: My reflections after watching Arthur Christmas)
I’m not sure about the value of comparing a folktale (Santa) with the truth (God), but I think that given the two different versions of Christmas put forth by the secular world and that presented by the Church, perhaps this might in some way be relevant =)
On Christmas day, God gave us His Son.
- God’s gift is not only for those who have been nice (thats all of us).
- What He offers us cannot be stolen, and neither moth nor rust or anything else can destroy it.
- We can never in theory ‘know’ Santa Claus (You are only permitted to offer him cookies and milk). But God, through Jesus, offers us a relationship with Himself, the person who gives us every gift, which is something far more precious than any thing we can ever receive.
- You can never grow out of God’s gift, nor will it ever become obsolete or outmoded. It will never need an update, and He will not release an upgraded version 6 months down the road. Jesus will stay with you throughout this life and well into the next.
- All that Santa supposedly gives us are just material things. God gave us His one and only Son, and His perfect life and sacrificial death, not to enrich us materially, but to renew us Spiritually.
Praise God for His Gift.
