The one thing about Christmas which may be depended upon is that the Saviour was not born at this particular time of the year. In Palestine “the cold of the night, from December to February, is very piercing, and it was not the custom for the shepherds of Judea to watch their flocks in the open fields later than about the end of October.” And yet the Christmas idea may serve to turn the minds of men in a special manner to the great truth of the incarnation, and to God’s unspeakable gift to us poor mortals. The chief idea with many, however, seems to be that of giving and receiving presents. Is it not more appropriate to recognize the Father’s great Gift by putting our greatest gift into the treasury of the Lord for the hastening of the coming of his kingdom? If the occasion really means anything to us, it ought to suggest sacrifice for the salvation of a dying world. This is what the birth of Jesus meant to him.