More about Christmas:
'Jesus' Birth \
Shepherds Rejoice!
The Three Kings
Christmas in Norway | The most important commandment comes first. "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me." Back in Moses' time, most people thought there were a lot of gods. In Egypt, the Sun God, Ra, was most important, but there were gods who were responsible for wisdom, justice, death, the sky, etc. It was sort of like Ra was president of a company and lesser gods were in charge of different departments. Sometimes the department heads would disagree, and it could be very hard to figure out how to please them all! God makes it very clear in what we call the 'appendix to (extra information about) the First Commandment' that He only wants us to worship Him, and nothing should even come close to God's place in our lives.
In the first commandment, God wanted us to know that He was the only one in charge and that all good things come through Him. Many centuries after He gave us the Ten Commandments, He sent us His son Jesus so that we would understand that our God loves and forgives us. When His Son Jesus was born, God put a special star in the sky, the star of Bethlehem, to mark where Jesus was born. Angels told the shepherds. Kings came to see him. It was a very big deal!
Next to the gift of being alive, God's love and forgiveness are the greatest gifts of all, and they were brought to us by a little baby born in a stable named Jesus. We remember these most precious gifts when we exchange presents at Christmas. |
