The Christmas Crush

In the past few weeks, as I have begun to prepare my heart for Christmas, God has really called into accountability the ways that I sometimes slip into this holiday season. I must admit that sometimes I struggle to honor and exhibit the meaning and true focus of what this season represents. So in these last few days before Christmas I going to come clean and exchange a few things that were never meant to be a part of the celebration of the birth of my Savior.

This time of year it seems like a million things battle for my time. Baking, cooking, canning and crafting. Parties, concerts, pageants, dinners and drama’s fill the schedule. I call it the Christmas Crush. I can’t fit it all in. Something has gotta give. Who needs 7 hours of sleep when I can get 5 hours tonight and still get all of the Christmas cards addressed and ready to mail. Tomorrow I can exchange 2 hours of sleep for 5 dozen homemade cookies, baked, cooled and boxed up for shipping. And those gifts aren’t gonna wrap themselves, so look out Wednesday night – right after work, dinner, a basketball game and church you, me and some wrapping paper are gonna have a date!

It’s it strange that the first verse God used in this little series of lessons is from Luke Chapter 10 “you are worried and upset over many things, but few things are needed; indeed only one”  Jesus is talking with Martha in this scripture. Martha is  busy, busy, busy doing all the things that simply "must" be done. Yet in her busyness she has missed the one thing that really matters most. Martha had the chance to sit at the feet of her Savior; she could hear His wisdom, soak in His love and worship Him unobstructed. But she didn't. Instead she was focused on temporary things - and she let those things steal both the moment and her joy.

Ouch.  How often do I miss moments with my Savior this time of year simply because I am too frazzled or fretting to make time for Him? Is that why my personal study seems so scattered these days? Is that why there is so much noise in my head when my heart tries to speak to my Sovereign God? Does my attitude need a Jesus adjustment?  First I will choose to exchange the over commitment and misdirected focus that often leaves me feeling rushed and ragged and replace it with responsible refusal and selective involvement. Maybe this will allow me to relax just a little bit and refocus. I can’t do everything that I’d like to have done. But let's be honest and just say it out loud "a lot of that stuff just doesn't matter at all!" This is the time of year when I GET to honor my Saviors Birth. God loved me so much that He was willing to do whatever it takes to pave the way for our restored relationship, and that story had its earthly beginnings in a barn in Bethlehem. Glory to God in the highest. Peace on Earth. Good will to men. With the arrival of His Son, God once again extended His good will to me. Time for me to get my eyes back on that.