Yikes. Just seven? I’d better get to shopping and finish off my gifts! I’ve got a lot to do between now and then. There’s wrapping to be done, last minute gifts to be gotten, packages to be delivered and Christmas cards to be sent! And I have to do all of this while balancing my budget and making sure we can pay for everything that we need this month!
Wait a minute. Why is it that when I hear that there’s only seven days until Christmas, it fills me up with stress and dread, reminding me of all the work I have yet to do to get ready for the holiday? That doesn’t seem right to me. I know God did not intend for the birth of His Son to be a stressful occasion for His people, so how is it that we have turned it into one? Two thousand years ago, in a tiny town in Bethlehem, a woman gave birth in nondescript place behind an inn where there were animals lowing and eating hay. It was a quiet moment of joy as the baby quieted down after being born, wrapped in a blanket.
Now? Music blares from the day after Thanksgiving. Printed ads proclaim unbelievable deals in bright, bold colors, yelling “Buy! Buy!” just as loudly as its television counterparts. Store aisles begin filling up with frazzled shoppers, trying to buy everything and anything that will fit under their Christmas tree, trying to figure out if it’s a gotta-have, just-expensive-enough gift to match the ones they’ll be gifted. Noise and cacophony is plentiful. This… is Christmas? No wonder we’re so spent by the end of the year!
One of my favorite Christmas carols has always been “Silent Night” because in the midst of the season, when we get swept up (often unintentionally) in the frenzy that is “Christmas,” it gives us time to be quiet, serene and reminds us of the powerful moment that was Christ’s birth. So, in the middle of the parties, wrapping, shopping, giving, receiving, in the next seven days, let’s try to take the time to be quiet and be thankful for that magical moment that made this season of joyful giving possible for that was the moment hope was born.
Have a great week and may God bless you this week with the PEACEFUL spirit of Christmas!
– Matt
birthChristmasGodJesusjoypeaceSilent Nightstress
Seven More Days Until Christmas
December 18, 2008
Calvary
Comments Off on Seven More Days Until Christmas
Matt
Yikes. Just seven? I’d better get to shopping and finish off my gifts! I’ve got a lot to do between now and then. There’s wrapping to be done, last minute gifts to be gotten, packages to be delivered and Christmas cards to be sent! And I have to do all of this while balancing my budget and making sure we can pay for everything that we need this month!
Wait a minute. Why is it that when I hear that there’s only seven days until Christmas, it fills me up with stress and dread, reminding me of all the work I have yet to do to get ready for the holiday? That doesn’t seem right to me. I know God did not intend for the birth of His Son to be a stressful occasion for His people, so how is it that we have turned it into one? Two thousand years ago, in a tiny town in Bethlehem, a woman gave birth in nondescript place behind an inn where there were animals lowing and eating hay. It was a quiet moment of joy as the baby quieted down after being born, wrapped in a blanket.
Now? Music blares from the day after Thanksgiving. Printed ads proclaim unbelievable deals in bright, bold colors, yelling “Buy! Buy!” just as loudly as its television counterparts. Store aisles begin filling up with frazzled shoppers, trying to buy everything and anything that will fit under their Christmas tree, trying to figure out if it’s a gotta-have, just-expensive-enough gift to match the ones they’ll be gifted. Noise and cacophony is plentiful. This… is Christmas? No wonder we’re so spent by the end of the year!
One of my favorite Christmas carols has always been “Silent Night” because in the midst of the season, when we get swept up (often unintentionally) in the frenzy that is “Christmas,” it gives us time to be quiet, serene and reminds us of the powerful moment that was Christ’s birth. So, in the middle of the parties, wrapping, shopping, giving, receiving, in the next seven days, let’s try to take the time to be quiet and be thankful for that magical moment that made this season of joyful giving possible for that was the moment hope was born.
Have a great week and may God bless you this week with the PEACEFUL spirit of Christmas!
– Matt
Share this:
birthChristmasGodJesusjoypeaceSilent Nightstress