Santa is not a part of the Christmas celebration in our house. There are several reasons for this but one of the reasons is grace.
One day last week we had a CD of kids Christmas music playing and a song about Santa was being sung. The song went to talk about the usual better be good, Santa is keeping a list of right and wrong, and how good children will be given lots of presents for Christmas. On the surface as a parent part of me wants to look at my boys and say, "If you are good little boy this month you will have lots of presents for Christmas."
But I can't tell my kids that because I believe Christmas is about grace.
What if God had given the same stipulations that Santa requires? What if God had chosen to only send the gift of his son to the good people? What if God chose to keep a record of our rights and wrongs and used that list to decide if we should be given the gift of His son? But thankfully God is not like Santa. God chose to send the perfect Christmas gift to a very "naughty" world.
Just like everyone our boys sin many times every day and they are learning that when they choose to sin there will be a punishment. At our house withholding or threatening to withhold Christmas presents is not a punishment that we use when our boys are naughty. We tell our children that every present from us is freely given to them because we love them not because they have done something to earn our favor. Our Christmas gifts are an object lesson to our children of the gift of Jesus that God sent to us.
Santa doesn't visit our house because at our house Christmas is about grace.
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth...For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." John 1:14-17 (NASB)
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