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Christmas thoughts in red and green Today marks the end of my "Journey to Advent/Christmas" and the blog that follows surprised even me...and I'm getting pretty used to the random direction my thoughts seem take.

As I looked around today at church, I noticed all the beautiful red dresses and ties and I started to wonder - why are red and green the colors of Christmas?

Red and green separately mean many things - not all of them positive! In different countries, red means a lot of different things...it can mean anger, joy, health, love, and passion. It can even mean danger and warning. Being green isn't something just for Kermit the frog anymore. It means being environmentally conscious, but it can also mean feeling jealous or sick...and of course there's always money and jello (isn't jello always green?)

It is believed by some that red and green are simply the colors that were used in pagan celebrations long ago and adopted as a part of the Christian celebration of Christmas. Perhaps this is true, but since I don't think things like this really happen by accident, I think there must be something more.

It doesn't take a lot of thought really to realize that red is the color of blood and green is the color of life. (Which makes me wonder why it took me so many years to realize just how significant these colors are at Christmas!) We use trees that are "evergreen" just as Christ came to give us life "everlasting" when He came over 2000 years ago. Why haven't I ever thought about this before? I know this is not some deep new revelation, but sometimes the simplest answers are the most difficult for us to see.

The colors of Christmas are red and green because at Christmas, Christ came as a sacrifice to shed His blood and make a way for us to live eternally with our Father in heaven. Red = love + sacrifice -> green = newness of life + everlasting. Simple.

Separately they may mean many things, but together these colors make Christmas mean so much more...and now I think I understand why.

1 John 2:25  And this is the promise that He has promised us, even eternal life.

Posted by Donna at 5:03 PM Labels: 1 John 2:25, Hebrews 9:22
 Rosie Dent said...

I have wondered about red & Green and would have never thought "Blood and life." That makes Christmas so much more beautiful! Thank you for sharing this!

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