WRITTEN BY EMEKA ARINZE
Today is Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. It is also observed throughout the Christendom as Saint Stephen’s day.

  In Nigeria, yesterday and today have been set aside as work free days.
In as much as Christmas is a commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Boxing Day is more or less historical than ecclesiastical.  It originated from the English tradition which the church brought and incorporated into the Christian Season.  A school of thought says that the day after Christmas is a day when presents received on Christmas day as well as the jewels worn on Christmas such as trinkets, gold and clothing are locked in a box and kept for next season.  Another school believes that Boxing Day is a day of sacrificial giving; the kind God gave to mankind, Jesus Christ, for the redemption of man unto Himself.
Those in this school believe that the boxing does not mean physical combat or exchange of blows but exchange of gifts in a box.  To them, box conveys the largeness of heart with which Christians ought to give gifts to their fellow human.  This goes in consonance with the message of Christmas that Christ came in the flesh to give us the gift of fellowship with God, and that anyone who accepts Him will live eternally with Him in paradise.
Yet, some are convinced that Boxing Day is a period to show gratitude to God for His blessings, guidance, protection and control throughout the year.  This gratitude should be shown by giving to the needy, the less privileged, the poor, the destitute and the down trodden.  To these people, such gifts are giving for Christ’s sake and not because of the person involved.  Such gifts, it is believed, attract abundant blessings from God.
Similarly, the day is embedded in the liturgy of the church as Saint Stephens’s day.  Saint Stephen is the first Christian Martyr and, according to tradition, the first deacon.  He was chosen to minister to the widows of the Hellenistic Jews and was the forerunner of Saint Paul in emphasizing the temporal nature of the Jewish law and temple.  Stephen was accused of blasphemy and was stoned to death in the presence of Paul.  He is fittingly commemorated as the first to shed his blood for Christ. It emphasizes how the early Christians carried the cross and how they ran the race.  Christians also learn from their weaknesses and emulate their strength.
All said and done, today is a day for sober reflection, when people in their meek mood, think about their relationship with God.  It is not a period to show off the amount of wealth one has garnered.  The central message is that it is a holy moment, time for deep Christian meditation.  It is a moment to amend where one has gone wrong.  It is a time to make peace with God and fellow beings, more especially as we are preparing to enter the New Year. All old bad habits must be dropped for new and better ones.
And one cannot drop any bad habit, no matter how hard he tries, if he or she does not allow a force (Jesus), more powerful than the spirit responsible for the bad habit to enter into him/her and crush the spirit of the bad habit. That is why, every year, we make New Year resolutions, but still go back to it, few days after. This is because we have not allowed the power (Jesus Christ), more powerful than that habit to come into our lives and drive away every unclean spirit in us.
Christians should equally remember to visit destitute homes, the motherless, the sick, the vulnerable, widows and the poor in their midst.  Wise counsel should be given to the hopeless.  One should not allow piles of clothes no longer needed.  They should be given to somebody that is worse off and abundant blessings of God shall follow it. It is the duty of every Christian to give either to his community or to individuals so that good measures shall be given unto them from above.  By this, we shall be our brother’s keeper and the essence of Boxing Day will be meaningful to all and sundry.
Above all, we should all realize that this world is a preparatory place for all of us; to prepare us where we will spend eternity, either in heaven or in hell. Those who tow the narrow path of Jesus Christ will be called up with Him when the trumpet sounds, while those who choose the wide gate of Satan will dwell with the evil one in hell forever on the last day. The choice is yours.

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