I toyed with the idea of crafting a poem imitating Twas the Night Before Christmas, but quickly realized God did not give me a creativity gene. So instead I will simply share some of the thoughts that are rattling around in my mind following Christmas 2011.
After 40+ years of Christmas', its pretty clear that the best measure of how commercial your Christmas was is how big your let down is on the day after. The unfortunate reality is that we all are immersed in the commercialized Christmas to some degree. Praise God if it is only slightly. In a weird (or maybe prophetic) way, it is similar to the nation of Judah in the Old Testament. There were moments of complete failure and moments of tremendous revival (2 Chr29-30) but in the end, they were never completely freed from effects of the world around them. Until Christ came.
Another after Christmas observation is that "point in time celebrations" are good but insufficient. Once again the Old Testament gives us a great illustration. Israel had the Passover, the Day of Atonement and several other feasts. All of them were glorious. All of them had a God-ordained purpose. All of them were woven into the fabric of their culture. And yet these awesome mountain-top events only had limited impact in the days and months that followed. This again a profound reminder that as important as any single event may be in our lives, it is the Spirit's day to day walk with us that enables us to live out the salvation we have graciously received from Jesus.
A final post Christmas thought, which I'm sure is well worn, is that the joy and hope and peace and expectancy of Christmas should really mark every day of our lives. Why do we need a special day to give to the poor? Why do we need a special day to be nice to people we tend to not even notice (waitstaff, checkout clerks, custodians, etc)? Why do we need a special day to get excited about the incredible, awesome, indescribable miracle of the incarnation? Why do we need a special day to recognize that the King has come and he has begun his mission of establishing his kingdom and that we are called to be part of that eternal plan?
The gospel of Jesus to all,
And to all - God's grace.
I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)
To God Alone be the Glory
I'll be transparent; I struggle with this. Our family left this morning. All the Christmas events are over. The meal left overs at sitting in storage containers in the fridge. The trash is full of wrapping paper and used paper plates. The Christmas tree skirt of bare and the anticipation is over. I get so excited of the upcoming festivities and events with friends and family, that when they are over, I have a bit of post-hoilday blues. I do the same thing after a great vacation, or Family Camp, or traveling to see family. When the event is done and the anticipation is over, I struggle with getting in the car and driving away. I have great memories, but I never want to let it go. I never want it to end. I want it to be vacation all the time. I want it to be Family Camp all the time. I want it to be Christmas all the time. I want my family with me all the time. I want to bring it all with me. And when I realize I can't, when getting "back to reality" sets in, I always feel a little down for a few hours.
ReplyDeleteI have spent some time with God this morning thanking Him that Christmas is every day of the year and asking Him (again) if THIS might be the day He returns (how better would THAT be than ANY December 25th?). And getting back into the saddle with house chores and life in general certainly helps. But I appreciate your post because it really hits the nail on the head with me and gives me more to ponder and think about today rather than missing all that I felt in my heart just yesterday.