"The 12 Days of Christmas"

We are on the official countdown to 10 days till Christmas. Everyone is scurrying around buy presents, decorating houses, stringing lights, and spending time with friends and family. But as every Christian knows, it is so easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of December. With that being said, I figured for the remainder of Christmas time, I want to share something spiritual with my readers everyday. Instead of bible verses, or spiritual messages, I think it might be fun to share the true meaning of some of our popular Christmas carols, and how they truly relate to Christ. 

Every try singing "The 12 Days of Christmas" without the radio. You're doing pretty good if you can get up to 7 Swans of Swimming. But from then on it just seems to mumble in to "...eleven duumm dummm dumduming...ten...um...welll....NINE!!" ...And so on and so forth.  But let's get real. What the heck does partridges and and pair tress have to do with Christmas, much less the birth of Christ?? What do Lords of Leaping actually leap over? And just exactly what kind of dancing ladies are we talking about here?! Well, believe it or not, every gift of the 12 Days as a spiritual attachment. Here ya go:

	The 'partridge in a pear tree' is Jesus who died on the cross. In ancient times a partridge was often used as mythological symbol of a divine, sacred king.
	The 'two turtle doves' are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible - another gift from God. Doves also symbolise peace.
	The 'three French hens' are faith, hope and love - the three gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 13). The French hens can also represent God the Father, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
	The 'four calling birds' are the four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible.
	The 'five golden rings' are the first five books of the Bible also called the Pentateuch, the Books of Moses or the Torah.
	The 'six geese a-laying' are the six days of creation.
	The 'seven swans a swimming' are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10-11)
	The 'eight maids a milking' are the eight beatitudes, Jesus' teachings on happiness. (See Matthew 5:3-10)
	The 'nine ladies dancing' are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (See Galatians 5:22)
	The 'ten lords a-leaping' are the Ten Commandments in the Bible. (See Exodus 20)
	The 'eleven pipers piping' are the eleven faithful disciples of Jesus.
	The 'twelve drummers drumming' were the twelve points of the Apostles'

See, so now that we know this fun bit of information, let's all try to put Christ back where he belongs. Because after all...Jesus is the reason for the Season! 

God Bless everyone!