Where Are Our Eyes This Christmas?
Random

Where Are Our Eyes This Christmas?

T. R. Noble

I see a lot of people talk about all the things and traditions they love about Christmas, guilty too.

And usually, the last two sentences reflect Christ. He’s just kinda tagged in there. The last-minute present under the tree.

“Don’t forget Christ is the main reason.”

I plan to write a further reflection of this and how God has really pricked my spirit this particular Christmas. To be fair I’m not against Christmas and family traditions, but I’m really starting to see a separation. I feel like there are two separate celebrations, and my heart is pricked to consider…”Are there two masters?”

(NIV) Matthew 2:02, “We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”

Where are our eyes?

Where is our true worship?

How much of our Christmas is truly spent on Christ?

What percentage out of 100 would your Christmas be focused on Christ?

From cookies, to decorations, to worship… everything. For me, it’s definitely not as high as I want it to be. I don’t even know if I could honestly say 50%. 

Screen Shot 2017-08-22 at 9.45.40 PM

Advertisement

Published by T. R. Noble

Growing up as a teen, adults did not provide me with the answers I wanted. I thought I was spiritually mature. Decades later, I saw the importance of understanding and being able to identify deception, false teachers/prophets. I realized my own ignorance about the Bible and the need to study all portions. I came out of the false doctrine of the Seeker-Driven movement, as well as the Holiness doctrine suffering under the legalism of sinless perfection. My goal is to help readers grow in the word of God. To trust His word. To tear apart deceptions, and to encourage Christian Apologetics. My second blog is Peeking Beneath, little more personal, which occasionally is updated. Aside from blogging, I am a wife. I am working on a Christian Fantasy series. I enjoy painting, gardening, cooking, reading, and learning from godly men and women.

44 thoughts on “Where Are Our Eyes This Christmas?”

  1. Pingback: Going Through The Motions – Christmas – Seeking God Daily

  2. I didn’t grow up in church and when we did go it was such an uncomfortable place to be (due to the situations at home) so Jesus was never associated with Christmas. The funny thing is, even though we never focused on Christmas being Christ-centered we knew the story. Somehow, children who were never told of Jesus knew his story and about his birth. It can be so stressful this time of year to meet everyone’s expectations and to show this happiness that is expected but even if we are celebrating in our hearts I think we are turning our eyes to Him.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It is definitely about focus on Him. And as some commenters pointed out they didn’t associate the two. My focus is on those believers, myself included, who proclaim Christmas is about Christ, and how what we proclaim adds up to our own actions in reaching to Christ during this season. 🙂 Thank you for sharing. I’m definitely not focusing on showing happiness, it can be hard. I want to know during this season how crucial do we make it to reach out to Christ. During tree decorating, looking at lights, making cookies, wrapping gifts etc. All activities we do, and can easily take the time to think of Christ and pray to Him. 🙂 Just last night, I worked on praying for the people I wrapped gifts for and asking God’s guidance. I need to do this more.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. I like all the comments about this subject, as well as your post. My parents taught me Dec. 25 is not when Jesus was born, so we don’t need to celebrate it. We always did the Christmas thing, and I loved that.

    Things you are taught as a child stick with you. I don’t identify Christmas with Jesus. Isn’t that strange? But, all year I do think of the sacrifice he made becomimg a man. I think that is just as good, but who knows?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I was just researching Christmas origins and found out America didn’t really celebrate Christmas till the mid 1800s.

      I don’t believe His birthday is on the 25th either, as many think possible spring/summer. It’s definitely a way to look at it.

      My focus on the post in which I talk about this, will be more focused on those who do claim Christmas as a time for focus on Christ, and some other things God has revealed to me.

      The importance of being focused on Him all year is crucial, and I think those who say especially Christmas is for Christ are more accountable to those words, so to speak. We are accountable for what we proclaim.

      I don’t think it’s strange you don’t associate Christmas with Christ 🙂 as you explained.

      Like

      Reply

  4. I’m blessed to teach in a Catholic school, so even when my evenings (and even during the day when my focus strays toward teaching and getting through my lesson plans) get too busy, I’m drawn into prayer. Throughout the day the school prays together and each morning we come together around the advent wreath to remember the reason we are celebrating this time of year (and every day)! But yes, even at home I’ve not prayed and reflected on the Advent prayers and scripture (or lit our candles) each evening at dinner with my family as I’d planned. Probably only twice per week. December becomes a hectic month that flies by.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It definitely is an individual choice and what we do in our daily life. Tonight, as I wrapped gifts, I worked on praying for the person, and the things they were going through. I’m working on redirecting my focus in everything I do. Thank you so much for sharing!! It is so wonderful to pray together 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  6. It’s amazing, Christmas is so much not about Jesus these days that if a big brand were to make a Christmas video that was actually about Jesus it would probably get them unprecedented publicity for being so outrageous!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. G’day T.R. I think the church really needs to reflect more on what you have mentioned in your post. There is way to much “Jesus is the reason for the season” but from my observation often it can be just a kind of catch phrase.

    My eyes are seeing things differently this year, a new season in a way. 2nd year of marriage means the wife and I are working out how we can engage with people and “Christian” celebrations more seriously rather than just float along. The awesome thing about Christmas is it’s a time where people actually want to connect (well most do) and will make an effort to, there hearts are probably more opened than normal. That’s a great opportunity to plant seeds. I am keen for my Christmas’s to be more focused on Christ but lets be honest, we don’t need one day a year to make that happen just like we don’t need valentines day to let people know in our lives that we love them. I hope you understand the gist of what I am saying lol

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. I completely understand what you are saying 🙂 and I am happy to say I’m not focused on one day. I’m focused on every single thing we do that applies to the Christmas season (which for some may mean a whole month). I also agree it is a great time to do outreach and witness to others. My focus has to do with the individual and Christ, primarily focusing on my own perspective, as that is where God is leading me. Christmas isn’t like other holidays like Valentines in that believers want to earnestly say, myself included, “This is about Christ.” What parts about our individual Christmas are about Christ? Why is there separation between some things we partake of in Christmas that are moreso for others, and not focused on Christ? These are the questions I’m exploring, and I’m allowing the Holy Spirit, and pleading for Him to prick my spirit as much as needed. To be convicted of even the smallest question, and not brush it away. There is definitely a deeper meaning, and as I gather my thoughts and what Christ leads me to, I hope I can write clearly what He’s shown me and the convictions He has brought to my attention. 🙂 Thank you for the discussion, as always!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Oh yeah for sure! On one hand when commenting on blogs that I really like I try and just focus on what has been said in the post instead of hijacking but good posts cause you to think also about your own stuff which you end up writing in the comment as well. I hope that makes sense. Continue to share the way you do T.R, ( can I ask your real name please? lol), that’s why I like engaging with your blog.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. I like discussion, and I love when people take the time to share what they think and feel, especially if the post speaks to them. 🙂 I’m very thankful for your comments and engagement in discussion. I don’t give out my full name for security reasons. 🙂 I have a number of people asking for my name haha. But it is technically my name, just an abridged form.

        Liked by 2 people

  8. My eyes are on Jesus, from birth to death in which He took my sin upon Himself and gave me His clean record so that I could be welcome into God’s Kingdom FOREVER !!!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      2. It’s not always about self (or the core, of course, is focused on self). But I’m talking about how much time of Christmas is really focused on Him. Do we apply Christ to decorating cookies or the tree? Do we listen to more Christmas songs than Christ songs? The intentions of many are definitely there. Many believe and focus on His birth all the way to His death and resurrection. But a holiday we as believers say is about Him doesn’t have as much focus on Him in that regard.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I am totally there too. I don’t want you to think I’m negative but at my church that just fired the pastor and my best friend for too much solid preaching, claiming it was too tough to follow??

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Oh, no worries at all!!! 🙂 People don’t want to listen to shepherds who preach holiness. It’s a real shame indeed! And, should the congregation have issues, these are things to bring up. If the flock, like in Paul’s case, needs milk when they should be on the meat, then they need the milk first. But this should be easily communicated, and not hidden behind the shepherd’s back. I fear for wolves in the flock of the sheep.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. You are so right, I still go but it’s for the 3 other men that come out to prayer. They are much more in tune with God than the board

        Liked by 1 person

      7. When the pastor my closest friend, the board was more on fire but when their term was done different men got put on and after 4 years the pastor was fired by the new board members

        Liked by 1 person

      15. Since my construction fall and coma, I am on long term disability, so I have more time for prayer and Bible reading than most. And I am thrilled with what God has been showing me. In general most don’t take God serious enough and that hurts me and I believe God does too

        Liked by 1 person

      16. Yes, definitely! I love what you had to say in your comment, I wanted to clarify what I was referring to, just in case it was misunderstood and for anyone else curious. You have time available to you, of course, but you willingly choose to devote that to Christ and listen to His Spirit. I think it’s so important and so wonderful you choose Him and you actively seek Him! Many don’t do this daily, and that’s where I am drawing similarities to the Christmas season as well. It’s become another veil we use. It sounds like we worship Him more during this time, but I don’t think, as you say, it’s really the case for many of us.

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Such a great post, T.R. Your questions: “Where are our eyes? , Where is our true worship? , How much of our Christmas is truly spent on Christ?” really should show us as Christians where our heart lies.

    I am actually doing a blog post similar to this for Friday’s Christmas-themed blog post, so it’s amazing to see that where our thoughts are for this coming Christmas season.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.