How much did you spend this Christmas?

Christmas ... money ... materialism ... shopping ... greed ... money ... gifts ... shopping ... money ... Christmas.

What Does Christmas Cost?

$1.5 Million Dollars per minute on Christmas Eve. Oh, and that's just in Britain. (1)

$24.9 Billion Dollars on holiday spending (up to December 21). Oh, sorry guys, that's just online spending. (2)

$133.6 Billion -- $133,600,000,000.00 was the approximate spending last year. Oh, that's only for the US. :-) (3)

For a bit of comparison, that is the approximate equivalent of the Gross Domestic Product (for the entire year, mind you), of Morocco or Slovakia.

Or to look at it another way, Americans spend more on Winter Holidays than 135 of the worlds' nations' individual entire economic output for an entire year! (according to the CIA factbook). (4)

What Would Jesus Do?

How much did you spend? How much is it worth?

Seriously guys, "What Would Jesus Do?" Would he really spend so much on gifts!?

Wait -- maybe He would ...

Jesus gave up his house, that He might live in men. He gave up His salary. He gave up respect. He gave up fame. He gave up His security. He gave up His rights. He gave up what He knew He could do, in order to do something that only He could do.

He came to preach the gospel. He came to present a message that would change the lives forever of those who heard it. He came to change the world.

And He came to die. He knew He was going to die – that's the whole reason why He came. He was the only way; the sinless sacrifice for the sins of a fallen humanity. His gift brought life and freedom. He did it all because of the passion He had that whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

God spent more on His gift than the Gross Domestic Product of the entire world. Jesus became a gift whose cost is beyond human comprehension. Christmas cost a lot!

What does Christmas cost? Was it worth it?

Have you heard the good news? God came down from heaven to take away the penalty of the wrong things we have done!

Merry Christmas!!!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NIV)

Catch the full story here.

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8430258.stm

2. http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/21/online-holiday-spending-hits-record-913-million

3. http://www.mindbranch.com/Holiday-Spending-R567-612/

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)