Reading that title line you're likely thinking, 'what the rush? Let's just enjoy the holiday.' You're right. But, living 'in the moment' has a limit and we all need to keep in mind that today forms tomorrow's foundation. How you act over the next 72 hours will surely affect the way that you feel on 12/26! So lay a foundation for joy. How?
First of all, deal with your expectations of Christmas! It's just a day. No, I'm not Ebenezer Scrooge. I am as excited as I can be about having my children back home for a few days, playing with my grandsons, swapping old stories, having a table full of conversation! But when the party's over, life will resume. If we put too many expectations on the day, the 26th will dawn with disappointment. Better to simply enjoy life as it unfolds and thank God for the serendipitous moments that find you. If you overload the day with great expectations, even one disappointment can obscure a hundred blessings.
Second, keep the focus where it belongs. This is Jesus' birthday party. If we get trapped by a misplaced emphasis on the external stuff of Christmas and, in the process of getting our various 'to-do' lists checked off, we will live right through the holiday and miss the meaning. It's a 'Holy-day' primarily. Yep, Americans made it into a festival of consumption... too much food, too much fun, too much spending. The fat guy in a red suit has mostly eclipsed the Babe in the manger. Don't get me wrong! I like Santa Claus. The jolly old man is a myth that captivates me even now. Who doesn't yearn for somebody to magically bring happiness, if even for a day, to all the kids of the world? But, even more, there is Wonder in the story of God giving the Gift of Himself to a broken world, changing sinners to saints, bringing alienated sons and daughters of God back home!
Third, be wise - financially, emotionally, spiritually. Holidays always create stresses. Old family issues surface as we rub shoulders with people we do not see the rest of the year. Obligations at home, work, and church pile up. Most of us will feel some need to try to settle old debts or to balance the scales; especially the emotional ones. There is a heart that beats in each of us that picks up on the longing for love and we'll try almost anything to feel the magic. Parties can set us up for mistakes. So, we will need insight, gentleness, and courage to navigate our way through these challenges successfully. If we don't, we may well wake up on the 26th missing the joy, with an aching head and a maxxed out credit card.
Keep LOVE in focus. Put people first. That is, after all, the meaning of Christmas! "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it." (John 3:16-17, NLT)
The Spirit of God is here, near, right now. Pray to be in a place where He can touch your life with Light. Set times of prayer and contemplation at regular intervals, moments when your soul can breathe in the Breath of God.
... And you will surely know more joy on the 26th!
I pray that the LORD will bless your life today - with peace, with joy, with wholeness. Thank you for reading along each day.
CWTW will be back next week... sometime. Merry Christmas!
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O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go.
O come, thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home.
The captives from their prison free,
And conquer death's deep misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
John Neale, Henry S. Coffin
© Public Domain
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