Matthew 2:10 “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”
Are you filled with “exceeding great joy” this Christmas?
How many of you would raise your hand and say Christmas is a bit overwhelming? It seems that every year I hear more and more people say, “I’ll be glad when it’s over.” I am ashamed to say that I have also said that in times past. We get so caught up in the expectations of others and doing the things that don’t matter, that we lose the joy of the season. Don’t measure yourself and what you do by someone else. Measure yourself by the Bible. You may already be in the Christmas “funk” and now you are just counting the days and getting through the activities and commitments. Stop!
Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
The word careful in this verse means anxious. We are to be anxious about nothing. This is a big step in keeping the joy in your Christmas. How, by bringing everything to the Lord in prayer and being thankful for all you have in him. Now, think about this. If you are bringing everything before the Lord, you are coming before him often! Unfortunately, our time with him in study and prayer seems to be the first thing to go when we get so busy. It seems to be expendable time, but it is even more important when you have more to do. The Bible should be our guide in all things. It should be our “priority setter,” determining the most important things and putting them first. Some things may need to be put aside, or you may need to become a better planner, delegate, and execute. For instance, explain to your children the events coming up and how they can help around the house! It’s also a good time to talk about what Christmas is really about, Jesus. Don’t run yourself crazy trying to involve them in everything under the sun. You are training them for their future Christmases and you don’t want to repeat the negative aspects of Christmas that have caused you to “wish it was over.”
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
We can choose to make this Christmas different, or we can fall into the same old rut we find ourselves in year after year. We can choose to give God praise and truly keep him first or push him to the side during a time that should be all about Him. You can choose to celebrate and focus on the joys and blessings of the past year and then look for ways to share them with others. If you choose to focus on the negative and say things like “I just want this year to be over, it’s been a bad year,” you are robbing God of the glory he is due, and you are not being thankful for all he has done for you. It’s also acting like a spoiled child that doesn’t get his way. I hear people say all the time, “God is good all the time and all the time God is good.” If you really believe this, then act like it. If you don’t believe it stop saying it! Let me give you a few helpful tips.
- Start each day with time in his word and prayer. If you are not having time and energy for this then you need to stop doing something else. Things are not important, GOD IS!
- Don’t try to live up to someone else’s expectations. God expects you to be who He designed you to be. Some people can handle a lot of activity and responsibility and some cannot. That does not mean one is better or more spiritual than another, just different. It would be a chaotic and boring world if we were all alike.
- Make your own traditions. Find something that you can do during the Christmas season that is unique to you and your family. It may be reading and talking about the birth of Christ and all the different aspects of his birth, leading up to Christmas. It may be baking cookies to share with others or just spending time together. It may be looking at Christmas lights and talking about the different scenes and the color of the lights and what each one can represent in the Christmas story. The list can go on, but the point is to settle down and do something with your family that can be meaningful and relate back to what Christmas is truly about.
- Don’t go into debt for Christmas. Plan early in the year for Christmas and only buy what you can afford.
- Find a project you can do for someone in need, then do it.
- Find someone who is not in church and invite them. The Christmas program is always a good opportunity to make people welcome to church.
- Remember it’s not about what you have, but how you use what you have to glorify Christ.
- Try to stay focused on the real joy of Christmas. Put reminders in your home, office, or car. I have a platter that someone in Knoxville gave me, that I place in my kitchen, in plain sight. It says, “Remember the meaning of Christmas.”
- Start early planning what you will cook and bake. Plan simple meals during the season. Double your recipes when you cook and freeze the leftover for another night.
- Step back, breath, and remember, every day is a new gift from God. Be grateful!
It is your choice. You may have already blown it in so many of these areas this year, but it’s never too late to start with number 1. It can, and will make the rest of your Christmas joyful. The Wise men in Matthew 3:10 celebrated the first Christmas with “exceeding great joy.” How could they do this after being so tired and weary from a long journey? Because their focus was on Jesus, not themselves.
This Christmas make it the best ever by celebrating a tiny baby born in a manger who came to save us and give us true life. The anxiety and darkness that overshadows so many during this time can be destroyed when we choose to give God praise for all things. Especially a tiny baby born to die for us!
Ephesians 5:20 “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”
