Jeremiah 10

For the customs of the peoples are futile;
For one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
They fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple. vv.3-4

Read chapter 10
Sound familiar?  A custom: cut a tree from the forest, decorate it, fasten it so that it won't topple.  Anyone else thinking Christmas tree?  Many Christians use Jeremiah 10 to show that we shouldn't have Christmas trees in the holiday celebration.  Jeremiah is saying here not to learn the way of the gentiles who make idols like these often using wood to carve an image.  Yet Christmas wasn't even celebrated then for Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ who hadn't been born of a woman yet for another 400 some years.  The Christmas tree tradition didn't start in Israel either, rather started in Europe in the 16th century.  Jeremiah is not talking about Christmas trees although there are many similarities; he's talking about idol worship.  You can celebrate Christmas without a Christmas tree, but ought not to condemn believers for decorating with a Christmas tree because of this passage.  Now if one starts worshiping the tree, then we have an issue.  Many think of the evergreen tree as a reminder of eternal life.  So next time you're cutting down a Christmas tree, decorating it and fastening it in your home, be reminded Who created the tree and Who is the reason for the celebration season.