After all the presents are opened. After all the food is eaten. After all the Bowl Games have been played . . . it is time to pack Christmas up for another year.
You know the drill. Take the ornaments off of the tree. Sweep the pine needles up from the floor. Detach the Christmas lights from the front of the house. Pack your nativity away for another year.
In a few short hours, you will be in full blown “January mode” and the red and green will be in the attic for 330 more days.
This is a normal process, and an important one. A Christmas tree just would not look right in your living room in July! However, as you put your Christmas decor up over the next couple of weeks, let me remind you of a couple of things:
- As you pack away your garland, don’t box up your God as well. It is far too easy to live a spiritual life only around Christmas and Easter. At these holiday times of year, there are cultural prompts that remind us of the Savior and we make it a priority to read devotionals, attend services, and live a God-aware life. However, Jesus did not just die for the holidays! He came that we might have life every day of the year. Do not fall to the temptation of packing away your faith with your decorations this January.
- God is not contained to the holidays. At Christmas time, we feel compelled to do things that we do not necessarily do the rest of the year. Being in the “Christmas Spirit” means being more compassionate, giving, or kind. In a sense, the idea is, be nicer, kinder, better BECAUSE it is Christmas season . . . you can go back to being “normal” in January. However, we do not serve a God who is seasonally affected. Our Heavenly Father is just as gracious on July 24 as He is on December 24. Jesus is just as compassionate and loving on that blah March morning as He is on Christmas morning. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that encouraging to know? Though we are seasonally affected, our God never is. He gives us special days of celebration to focus our hearts, but His heart never needs refocusing. We can approach Him every minute of every day and find the same God.
Since our God is always the same. Since our God is never “boxed” and placed in the attic, we might expect to see Him be at work year round. That is why this Sunday at Wildwood we will be taking some time to reflect on God’s goodness in the lives of many of our members over the past 12 months. We will be hearing a number of stories from Wildwood members about how God has been at work in tangible ways . . . not just during the holidays, but ALL THE TIME. By hearing these stories and praising God for them, we will also be setting our expectations for 2014. Since our God is not “boxable” and since He never changes, we can expect to see Him work in our lives in the coming year as well.
Join us this Sunday at Wildwood Community Church for either our 9:30 or 10:50 worship service.