The week after Christmas feels a bit strange for me. We spend so much time focusing on the Christmas day celebrations, the meal, the people we are with, the presents, church services and so on. It is like being plugged into a super battery. You keep going through the lists and you tell yourself you need to focus and that everything will be fine. Just keep ticking items off your list.

Then Christmas day arrives and it is so lovely to see the smiles on the faces of the children and grown ups too. The presents are opened and the food is consumed. Games are played and with any luck no big arguments happen and everyone is “happy” and satisfied. So much time and energy is spent for such a small reward. Don’t get me wrong, I love to see my family happy around the Christmas tree and table enjoying all the things we have. It makes me feel all the work was worth it. It doesn’t last very long though, does it?

Even as I write this post, I am looking around my lounge thinking: I need to put all these Christmas decorations away. There are no more presents under the tree, the lights and candles don’t seem to create the same atmosphere, now that it is all gone. I want my house to go back to normal again. I am not sure what the “correct” way of doing things is, but I will probably have everything packed away by the 1st.

Have I, so quickly, lost site of what is most important for this season? Christmas is not about the tree, the presents, the food or even the family spending time together. No. Christmas is about God sending His Son to be a perfect sacrifice.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12

It is about Jesus becoming our Immanuel (God with us). It is about hope – a hope that it is for all peoples. Salvation is offered to all who believe in Him. (John 3:16-17) Jesus is the promised King who fulfilled all the promises and one day He will return as King and judge. That is what we celebrate. The problem is that we focus on the wrong things around this time of the year. We know what the real meaning of Christmas and reason to celebrate is, but we focus on “the garnishing”, so to speak. Maybe that is why, right now, I want everything to go back in the boxes and stored away for another year.

Bear with me before you start thinking I want to steal your joy. Not at all. Perhaps you are still in the celebration mood. Perhaps you are still playing carols and you are fired up by the Christmas’s story! I worried this morning that perhaps this feeling of packing away things and getting back to normal might transfer to my Christian walk as well. Will I continue to focus on the moment or will I keep my eyes, my mind and my heart focused on King Jesus? Jesus is my king not only at Christmas. He came to save people not only in December. He offers eternal life and a restored relationship with God the Father for those who believe all year around. Will I continue to feel excited about this wonderful news or will it be pushed away to the corner of heart and mind until next year? Will I spend time reading the story and retelling it with renewed excitement? Will I continue to explore it even deeper and continue to discover what it means to follow Jesus? Will I stay rooted in Him?

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:7-8

My hope and prayer is that my heart and mind will desire to understand more of God’s Word and in so doing I will be able to live a life that displays Jesus – for His glory alone.

Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. ³⁴ Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. ³⁵ Direct me in the path of your commands,  for there I find delight. ³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. ³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things;  preserve my life according to your word. (Psalm 119:33-37)

God bless.