We are getting close to the time of year when many people celebrate the Christmas holiday.  Your unbelieving friends might be excitedly looking forward to opening presents from a make-believe person named “Santa Claus.”  They might also be wondering why you are not participating.  Your parents probably already explained to you that Christmas has very pagan roots.  Christmas is a very difficult time of year for many believers because many of their unbelieving friends, family, or classmates make them feel bad for not joining in the holiday festivities.  But as Yahweh’s people we must remain strong. 

      Yahweh commands us not to worship Him the way pagans worshipped their deities.  The one thing we must remember is that in the entire Bible, there is not one single command to celebrate Christmas.  But there are commands to observe Yahweh’s true Holy Days.  Many religious people today claim that we need to keep Christmas because it is the birthday of Yahshua.  This is wrong because there is no evidence that Yahshua was born on December 25th.  In fact, there is evidence that Yahshua was most likely born in either September or October closer to, or possibly during, the Feast of Tabernacles.  In addition, we are not commanded to observe birthdays anyway.  This alone should be enough to prevent us from observing man-made holidays.  Believers look forward to keeping Yahweh’s real Holy Days.

      In The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, we read the following, “There is no historical evidence that our [Savior’s] Birthday was celebrated during the apostolic or early post-apostolic times.”   Most Americans do not know that Christmas observance was actually condemned in the early history of our country.  But now stores and merchants make money off of worldly holidays such as Christmas.  Children are especially targeted by advertisers, as they know that children will ask their parents to buy them new toys or video games for Christmas. 

      So where did Christmas come from?  The rites of this holiday can actually be traced back to ancient Babylon thousands of years ago.  It eventually became the Roman Saturnalia festival.  Like the ancient Babylonians, the Romans were sun-worshippers.  In ancient Rome, the pagan-practicing masses exchanged gifts with each other.  Think about it.  Christmas trees, wreaths, mistletoe, and other strange customs have absolutely nothing to do with Yahweh and Yahshua, but everything to do with pagan worship!

      In the Bible, we are commanded not to lie, yet millions of parents tell their children the lie about a man named Santa Claus, who flies in the sky with his reindeer, and knows if children have been good or bad, and will either reward them with gifts or punish them for being bad.  What a dreadful lie!  Only Yahweh knows if we are bad or good.  Yet many children fear that Santa Claus is watching them!  We should really fear that Yahweh is watching us.

      Christmas is not a harmless holiday that people should indulge in.  There is an interesting scripture in Jeremiah that condemns what possibly could be a Christmas tree!  We read in verse 10:2-4, “Learn not the way of the heathen...For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest…..They deck it silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.”

      If your classmates celebrate Christmas, don’t feel bad if you are the only one who does not.  Yahweh will bless you for your obedience.  Don’t feel jealous if your friends have lots of new toys for Christmas.  You have something far better: Yahweh’s truth.  And besides you have something that your classmates don’t—-Yahweh’s true Holy days!  For instance, the Feast of Tabernacles is so much more joyous than any pagan holidays.  We get to rejoice for 8 days instead of 1.  So keep obeying Yahweh and He will bless you abundantly!  One day in Yahweh’s Kingdom, no one will be allowed to keep pagan holidays.  Everyone will be keeping the true Holy Days and true happiness and joy will be felt by all!