[Steve Myers] Can you imagine skipping Christmas?

I ran across an interesting survey that just came out from Think Finance and surveying many people, do you know what percentage of those that were surveyed said they'd prefer to skip Christmas altogether? It was 45% of those surveyed said they'd just as soon skip Christmas. Now their reason was because it brought so much financial pressure. They'd rather just jump right over that holiday. In fact, 50% of those that were surveyed said because of the holiday expenses, their stress level was high or extremely high.

The holidays can put so much pressure on people, mainly because they haven't set enough money aside to pay for the gifts, to pay for all those holiday expenses. And so it becomes a very difficult thing.

Now, that's just talking about the physical side of things.

If you were to actually get down to the spiritual side of Christmas, we come to a whole other set of problems.

Maybe those financial difficulties should cause us to think a little bit more deeply why we're doing the things that we do. I know many people would be surprised to find that Christmas isn't even mentioned in the Bible as a holiday to celebrate. Christ Himself said something very interesting that those that celebrate Christmas should take note of. It's found over in Mark 7:9. Here's what He says, "All too well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your traditions."

Has Christmas become just a tradition for you? What is the real purpose behind Christmas? Why was it celebrated? Why do we celebrate it today? Is it a celebration that God endorses?

Well, no, it isn't. I hope you'll take this opportunity not just to feel the stress and the strain from financial constraints that come about because of this time of the year, but that it could cause you to look more deeply into what God ordains as festivals to be celebrated. Christmas isn't one of them.

So, get out your Bible. Dig into it and look at what God would want you to do and what truly would honor Him. Don't put up with the financial stresses. Look to the Bible and look to what days God wants you to celebrate.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.