It is only a week (and a weekend) away from Christmas. It is the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. The question often arises what day Jesus was really born on? Was He born in December?
In doing a little research, it turns out that the man who chose December 25th as the official birthdate of Jesus was Pope Julius I around AD 350. We don't really know why -- maybe because the pagan feast of Saturn ended on December 23, a couple of days before. Maybe it was because he really thought that Jesus was born on that day. Maybe some Christians had already chosen that date and he was just standardizing it.
The Gospels don't give any details on the subject. We know where Jesus was born (Bethlehem), we know some visitors He had after His birth (shepherds and magi), but we don't know the exact year or even the month of His birth.
The point is that to early Christians, Christmas wasn't that important. They didn't celebrate Jesus' birth -- at least not the way we do today. Their focus wasn't on His birth, but on His death. Every time they gathered together they remembered His death through a very simple custom of the breaking of bread.
"As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lord's death till He come." (I Cor. 11:26)
Maybe it is appropriate that we remember light coming into the world at the darkest time of year, just after the Winter Solstice. Maybe it is good that we give each other gifts, remembering the greatest gift that was given to us.
All of this feels like rationalization for what we are already doing.
The important thing is not to put Christ in Christmas, but rather to honor Jesus with our lives and to remember His death on our behalf. This is why He came to earth and lived and taught and died and rose again.
The day isn't important.
The month isn't important.
The year isn't important.
How our hearts are changed because of meeting Jesus and allowing Him to change our lives is more important than all of that.
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