Gifts our #1 Pirority?

On my drive to work this morning I heard a new song, or at least new to me, which describes Christmas in Australia.This song was written by the group Revive and can be found here. My first reaction upon hearing this was that it was a fun song set to the tune of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I would ask that each of you take the time to listen to this song before I continue and see if you can determine the 1 problem I have with it....... Go Ahead Listen, Really, I'll Wait........


Waiting.........

 Ok, now that hopefully you have all listened to the song, you can tell me the one problem with this song? The one problem (in my opinion) of this song is that when listing the 3 things that are common between Australia and the United States is that: 1. We like to get new stuff   2. Jesus' Birth and 3. We eat too much. No this isn't a huge deal but it still shocked me that number one of their list was"we like to get new stuff" and then "Jesus' birth". It amazes me that as Christians we still put "stuff" ahead of Jesus even if its not intentional. Please everyone remember that stuff isn't the reason for Christmas. Don't let stuff get in the way of celebrating Christ.

I know everyone is probably posting something similar to this about not focusing on the gifts, but have you ever thought about what giving gifts to your children could be teaching them? Do they really know the real meaning of Christmas? Are they more excited to celebrate Jesus' birth then receive gifts? Are we?

I have no intention of hurting anyone with this post. Jacob and I still give gifts to each other as well as family members. We have just been re-evaluating Christmas and this is just another thing that makes us think. Everyone can make their own decisions regarding Christmas and gifts, I just wanted to share some thoughts Jacob and I are having.

Merry Christmas!