The precise day of Christ's birth is not certain. Historical accounts would indicate that this day to celebrate of the birth of Christ was instituted to give Christians an alternative to the pagan celebration of Nimrod.

It reminds me of how God instructed Moses in setting up the system of sacrifices for worship for His chosen people. It's easily observed that similar systems for the worship of false gods was prevalent in near-middle eastern cultures in that era. From our modern view, one could argue to invalidate the Hebrew worship because it was instituted in the midst of, and as an alternative to pagan worship.

If light shines out of darkness, we do not discard it because the darkness was there first. We celebrate it because it scatters that darkness and brightens the path of truth.

Here, today, the whole world rings with the glorious sounds of retelling the story of God's personal entrance into the world to save His lost Children. One need only hear and sing a few verses from Handel's Messiah:

Comfort ye, Comfort ye, My people
Comfort ye my people, says your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
And cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished
That her iniquity is pardoned
That her iniquity is pardoned.

Can you hear the everlasting mercy? Can you feel the tears of His heart? His inexorable cry: I am coming for you, My beloved ones.

Or, consider the triumphant shout, the heralding of liberating news to a desperately hopeless planet:

Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room . . .

No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make
His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found
Far as the curse is found
Far as, far as the curse is found . . .

. . . . The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love. And wonders of His love.

If Handel's Messiah and Joy to the World were the only songs sung on this day, the Light would break into this world and change it forever.

Whatever the origins of Christmas, it still holds immense spiritual value and encouragement to multitudes the world over. Where are the celebrations of Nimrod? – On the ash heap of history, essentially displaced by the Christ who is honored, however imperfectly, on Christmas Day.

Be exaltant in praise. Be awash in gratitude. Be humbled in grace. Be glad in our loving Savior. May your soul be blessed as you celebrate the profound loving kindness of our God.