Christmas Stockings
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Christmas stockings filled with little gifts are the joy of every child on Christmas morning. When we think of the holiday season, we think of Santa, Christmas presents, family gatherings, and the birth of Christ, Savior of the world. Sometimes, this time of year can become so hectic, with planning events and buying gifts, that we put our priorities in the order listed above. Santa, gift exchanges, family gatherings, and finally, Christ. This season, as the shopping for gifts begins, families might want to keep in mind where some of the traditions of our holiday seasons come from, separating facts from fiction, and devoting the day, the season, the entire year to the King who died so that we might live. He gave and is still giving the ultimate gift - eternity.
While many traditions we now celebrate at this special time began before the birth of Christ and have their roots in Pagan solstice and sun god worship, Christmas stockings have their roots in Saint Nicholas, or our modern day Santa Clause. Saint Nicholas, a fourth century bishop of Myra, Asia Minor, had a reputation of kindness and generosity. He was noted as especially kind to children, giving away treats and small gifts. Saint Nicholas has evolved into the magical Santa Clause that we now herald as a miracle worker who creates magic to make children's dreams come true, if they are good enough.
Part of Saint Nicholas's evolution is from the folklore surrounding stockings by the fireplace. It is said that the first Christmas stockings were in the home of a widower who lived in Myra. The widower could not properly support his three daughters, and he could not provide a dowry. The story goes that Saint Nicholas threw three bags of gold into the fireplace chimney and the gold landed into the stockings drying by the fire. This began the tradition of putting Christmas presents into Christmas stockings.
There are many more traditions and rituals that surround our holiday celebrations and these practices have been handed down through hundreds of years, evolving to meet the needs and beliefs of the culture of the day. Christmas presents are usually associated with the wise men, but gift exchanges have an even deeper history. Many of the practices were adapted to Christianity to allow the communities that worshipped false gods co-exists with the communities of Christ. Constantine is noted as the first emperor to claim the pagan sun god festival during December as the time to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Exploring the origins of gift giving and other practices can open our eyes to many deceptive practices employed by the enemies of God. Paul the Apostle encourages the Roman church to "...not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." And in his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul stated: "Let us not sleep, as do others: but let us watch and be sober." (1 Thessalonians 5:6)
Also, separating the truth from folklore is presenting Christ as the one and only King and the origin of all miracles. Holiday traditions, such as Christmas presents, are perfectly fine as long as we keep our focus on the true giver of all gifts, Christ, Son of God. For further information about the truth of who Christ is, click the links above.
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