The Colors Of Christmas

When we think of Christmas, we often paint a picture in our minds with strokes of green and red against a canvas of white, with a touch of silver and gold here and there. Why are these colors most commonly associated with Christmas? Who was the first artist to choose these hues from their palette? It was God. It is He who paints the seasons with colors.

Think about it. Which colors come to mind when someone mentions Easter? Azalea pink, lavender iris, buttercup yellow? The most common colors of springtime in bloom. The same is true for Thanksgiving, when we decorate with pumpkin orange, roasted-turkey brown, and maple-leaf red. At Christmastime, God decorates the world with splashes of holly and berries set against a backdrop of snow - with a flash of the sun reflecting in an icicle, just for dramatic effect.

God uses the language of color to help His people understand eternal truths. "Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool'"(Isaiah 1:18, NIV).

Over the years, tradition has ascribed special meaning to the colors of Christmas. Green suggests life - the eternal "ever-green" life we have in Christ. Red recalls the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for us. White speaks of the purity of the spotless Lamb. Gold celebrates the divine nature of God's Son and reminds us that He is the great King. Silver commemorates the price that was paid for His betrayal - and our redemption from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

As we decorate this Christmas, let the green of the wreath, the red of the poinsettia, the white of the snowman, the gold of the trumpet, and the silver of the tinsel remind us of the Master Painter and prompt us to praise Him for His creative us of color in our world.

(The picture above is of my mother and myself. Christmas 1971. I was 8 months old.)