Sorry, Santa!

I had a kid in my class the other day burst into tears and start crying almost uncontrollably. When I asked her what was wrong she said that all the kids were telling her in P.E. that there was not a Santa. Then she told me she knew he was real because she saw him at the Mall. It might be funny, but it got me thinking about when I found out there was no Santa.

I still remember exactly where I was...my mom and I were in the car watching my brother practice baseball at the Little League fields. I was working on homework and I remember asking her out of the blue if Santa was real or not (I like the girl in my classroom had heard kids saying he wasn't). I sat waiting for the answer hoping it wasn't, No! Then, my mom told me., "I think it is time to tell you that No, Santa is not real and neither is the Tooth Ferry or the Easter Bunny." I could hardly believe what she had just said and I remember being so mad and telling her, "I didn't ask you about the Easter bunny or the Tooth Ferry!" It's a funny story, but it wasn't funny at the time. I was crushed...I couldn't believe that my mom and dad had lied to me and made me think for years that something was true when it really wasn't. I felt so deceived and silly for ever believing it. You see, I grew up in a non-Christian home and we REALLY believed in Santa (a big, fat, jolly man that came down the chimney and brought me presents on Christmas Eve and had a sleigh and reindeer and lived at the North Pole). I was so disappointed to find out it was all a lie! To make it worse, I now had to "act" like Santa was real for many more Christmas's for my younger brother and sister.

After I was saved, I was confused about the whole subject (Santa or no Santa). I looked around and found many Christian families that included Santa in their Christmas and others that didn't. I asked questions to both and got so many conflicting answers that I just ended up more and more confused. So, I started asking God what He thought about it. He started to show me that the devil has a counterfeit for everything God does and that the devil has deceived many by using "Santa" as the symbol of the Christmas season instead of Jesus which is the whole reason for it anyway!!!

The devil even goes a step further by having parents lie to their children and tell them from a very early age that this man dressed in a red suit slides down their chimneys and will deliver their little hearts desires if they are good (that is what we were told, you know the song, "Santa's checking his list to see if you were naught or nice"). Then one day they have a talk and tell their child it was all "for fun" and not true at all! It is the perfect set up to deposit doubt and unbelief in the heart of a child. Perfect plan of the enemy! I can almost see him laughing saying. "haha, now when their parents tell them about God and Jesus and all the Bible stories from now on they will think it is all fake too." It plants seeds of doubts and unbelief in their hearts.

God also showed me that little children go sit on Santa's lap and whisper in his ears the desires of their hearts and hope they get them all under the tree on Christmas morning. It parallels our relationship with Jesus and how He calls us His children and promises to give us the desires of our hearts if we seek Him first. (Psalm 37:4)

One day, out of the blue God also showed me that if you scramble the letters of SANTA you can get SATAN!!!! Coincidence or not?

I understand that many families just make it more of a "fun" thing at Christmas to do and don't teach their kids that Santa is real, but my question to that is...why Santa at all? Shouldn't the focus be on Jesus and not Santa? Isn't Jesus enough? After all the whole reason for CHRISTmas is Jesus being born. God said in Isaiah 42:8, "I will share My glory with no Man, nor My praise to carved images." Why does Jesus have to share His birthday with Santa anyway?

I don't have kids yet, but I am not going to be a very popular parent in the world's eyes when I do because my kids will not be getting presents from Santa, the Easter bunny will not be hiding eggs in the backyard, and they won't be getting money from a Tooth fairy when they lose a tooth. I know this is my personal opinion and many people won't agree with me, but I hope if nothing else it made you think about God's view on the subject! Pray and ask God yourself what does He think...not what your pastor thinks or a friend thinks or even what I think, but what does God think about the whole Santa thing. God is still revealing things to me about this all the time.

"Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is..His good pleasing and perfect will" Romans 12:12