[Steve Myers] It's Christmas day and many are celebrating Christmas in order to honor Jesus Christ and God the Father. Yet, does it really? It doesn't and so many are doing so many traditional types of things. They're getting out the holly and the ivy and the yule logs and all the things that they know very well are not found in the Bible.

[Darris McNeely] And maybe by now they're disappointed in what they didn't get.

[Steve Myers] Maybe that's part of it as well. And yet they feel that, "Yes, I understand it, those are pagan things. I understand they're not in the Bible. I understand, but I do it to honor Jesus and that's acceptable to Him." But is it really? That's the question.

[Darris McNeely] No, it isn't acceptable to God, to Jesus Christ. We've been going through these on our dailies and we've got to hit it pretty hard this particular season.

[Steve Myers] And it's not just that we're scrooges - bah humbug and all that.

[Darris McNeely] No, not at all - or talking about the end of the world for all that matter in all of this. No, it's not that at all. It's a matter of getting a worship of God right. It's a matter of being honest with the Bible. Actually, it's a matter of being honest with yourself and with life.

[Steve Myers] Absolutely. It is so interesting if you really look to your Bible, look to the Word of God, there is a wonderful example right at the very beginning when man was created. When God put Adam and Eve in the garden, He put two trees there. And the one tree was the tree of life. And the other tree is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You'll find that in Genesis 2:16. And God had Adam and Eve make a choice of which tree to choose from, the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, is there good in Christmas? Well, families get together. We have warm feelings. We have peace on earth and that's the whole idea.

[Darris McNeely] Or at least we have the idea of peace on earth.

[Steve Myers] It feels we have the form of it, but is it the reality? I disagree. It is definitely the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And that mixture, God says He hates. He hates that mixture. He wants life.  He wants good. He wants what's right.

[Darris McNeely] In fact, when man has taken of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil and added in his own customs, his own celebrations, his own festivals, God has something specifically to say about that throughout scripture. I was reading recently in Amos 5:21 where God says, said to His own nation Israel anciently, but in a message that applies to a thinking Christian today. He said, "I hate and I despise your feast days." He's not talking about His feast days. He's talking about to his audience and saying I hate your feast days, "And I do not savor your sacred assemblies." God's talking about any activity, any festival that is religious in nature other than what He gave in scripture to His people for us to worship Him by today. Christmas falls in that category as a feast that God says, I do not love - I hate it. And it is your sacred assembly, but it is not mine. He says - He went on to say, "Take away from me the noise of your songs. I will not hear their melodies of your instruments." These are not pleasing to God. He offers a better way, and it's in that better way the things that we really want and that people really strive to find in celebrations around a yule tree and by the Christmas celebrations, you can find through the paths of the true worship of God - not by our own festivals.

[Steve Myers] So we should take that challenge. I think what we've got to do, we definitely got to X out Christmas. And then find out if we've been celebrating our festivals, man's festivals, then check out your Bible, look into the Bible and find out what are the festivals of God. And then you'll be choosing from the tree of life.

[Darris McNeely] It's not a matter of being a scrooge. It's a matter of worshipping God in spirit and in truth.

[Steve Myers] That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.