Christmas in the Western world has become a highly secularized holiday. While the celebration still bears the name of Christ, the season marks a time of gifts and parties, lights and decorations. And while many of those themes are relatively harmless, they do not call attention to the worship of Christ that should be at the center of the holiday celebrations.

It’s sad that the priests and scholars who knew the prophecy about the Savior’s birth weren’t interested enough to see if it was fulfilled, despite the fact that Bethlehem was only a few miles from Jerusalem. And Herod, who was interested because he felt threatened, didn’t want to hear about the kind of king God desired—a gentle ruler and shepherd (Matthew 2:6). At times, we too have our tendencies to ignore what we know about God’s promises and to try to maintain our own sense of authority and comfort.

In just a few days Christmas will be here. Perhaps you’ve already begun your celebrations, and you’re enjoying the traditions our culture has built up around this holiday.As we celebrate, let’s be careful not to let our traditions or attitudes bring

about a false Christmas that rejects the worship of Jesus. Instead of staying in our own comfortable palaces, let us go, as the Magi did, to seek God’s promised Savior.