Psalm Saturday

Psalm 148 NIV

¹ Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD from the heavens,

praise him in the heights above.

² Praise him, all his angels,

praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

³ Praise him, sun and moon,

praise him, all you shining stars.

⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens

and you waters above the skies.

⁵ Let them praise the name of the LORD,

for he commanded and they were created.

⁶ He set them in place for ever and ever;

he gave a decree that will never pass away.

⁷ Praise the LORD from the earth,

you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

⁸ lightning and hail, snow and clouds,

stormy winds that do his bidding,

⁹ you mountains and all hills,

fruit trees and all cedars,

¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle,

small creatures and flying birds,

¹¹ kings of the earth and all nations,

you princes and all rulers on earth,

¹² young men and maidens,

old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the LORD,

for his name alone is exalted;

his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

¹⁴ He has raised up for his people a horn,

the praise of all his saints,

of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the LORD.

Are we praising God this Christmas? What are we teaching our children about the meaning of Christmas? It is so so easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all and neglect to teach the real reason we celebrate this time of year. It is hard not to get carried away with the myth of Santa Claus and talk of what you are buying for the kids this year.

Each year I try to make sure the kids know exactly what it is all about but I get carried away as well! What do you do when your kids mention Santa, as they all do??? I can't help but think we are lying to our kiddos when we reinforce this. However, he is a good fun character who adds to the magic of Christmas!

I wonder what God would think about our celebration of the birth of Jesus? Of course we don't know! Christmas has just become a large worship of consumerism. Children compile lists of things they would like from Santa and set themselves up for disappointment when they don't get everything or worse still get every thing on their list!

Our children are such little consumers and it is hard not to get caught up in this aspect of Christmas. I never want to go down the road of wish lists from the kids because they will be sorely disappointed!! Also this isn't the attitude I want to instill in my kids. Christmas isn't just a time for receiving the latest toy. Of course it is nice for kids to receive gifts and we can use this as a lesson to teach them about the greatest gift of all.

I sometimes wish we could just strip Christmas down to the bare bones of what it is truly all about. Maybe then people would all be a little happier, less stressed, less financially burdened and praising the Lord that created them.