"The Cost of Christmas"

The annual PNC Wealth ManagementChristmas Price Index calculated that if you purchased all of the items, or gifts, every time they are mentioned in the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, it would cost you a whopping $116,000. My first reaction is that someone has too much time on their hands to sit around and tally the cost.

  

 You can still get a partridge for $20 but a pear tree will run you $188 and the twelve drummers drumming depends upon availability of the local percussionists in your area.

Another national organization estimated that the average American family plans to spend $861 this year. Of course, that is what they intend to spend, but how can you pass up a great door buster or online promotional?

 There is another cost associated with Christmas that is often overlooked. It is the cost of love.  The Gospel of John says it best, “For God so loved the world that gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.”   

I don’t know what it will cost you to celebrate Christmas, but I know what it cost God, his only son. No wonder the Bible calls it an “indescribable gift”. It’s not only hard to describe, but also hard to believe. But, it’s true. God so loved you and me that he sent his son, born as a babe in Bethlehem. It is something to think about every time we see Jesus lying in the manger.