A friend of mine was saying to me the other day how much they like Christmas music being played this time of year on the radios and in stores. He was complaining though that it ends too abruptly. If you listen to the radio after Boxing Day you will not hear any. It is the same with decorations. The CH corporate office is all decked out for the season but I am guessing it will be all packed away at the end of the week. At the malls the decorations go up two months before Christmas and are taken down almost immediately after. This makes it difficult to live the cliché and “have Christmas in your heart all year”.
There is a lot of anticipation for the holiday but little retrospect. It is a strange way to celebrate a birth. Every birth comes with much anticipation but the real joy comes after. The Lord Jesus coming to earth was the greatest gift the world has ever received but it did not end with the giving. The Christmas story is just the beginning of Christ’s ministry on earth but it seems to be a culmination for us in celebration. Imagine if we celebrated our birthdays by only looking at the day we were born. It is a great birthday tradition to tell the story of ones birth but none of us would stop at that. It is a time to reflect on what has been accomplished in the past year. I am to trying to look back this Christmas and New Year (also a commemoration of his birth) on what Jesus has done through and with my family and my work. I am tying to focus on the abundant life that Jesus has supplied.
It is also strange that we as a culture spend so much more time and energy celebrating Christmas then Easter. In Christ’s life it is really his death on the cross that was the culmination. It was his death for us that brought us freedom. Maybe that is the one thing the mall has right. They do start decorating for Easter although it is mostly bunnies. As you take down the decorations over the next few days remember that our Saviour was not a gift that was consumed. He is still with us. The real celebrations are yet to come.
Happy New Year
Mark Wallace
There is a lot of anticipation for the holiday but little retrospect. It is a strange way to celebrate a birth. Every birth comes with much anticipation but the real joy comes after. The Lord Jesus coming to earth was the greatest gift the world has ever received but it did not end with the giving. The Christmas story is just the beginning of Christ’s ministry on earth but it seems to be a culmination for us in celebration. Imagine if we celebrated our birthdays by only looking at the day we were born. It is a great birthday tradition to tell the story of ones birth but none of us would stop at that. It is a time to reflect on what has been accomplished in the past year. I am to trying to look back this Christmas and New Year (also a commemoration of his birth) on what Jesus has done through and with my family and my work. I am tying to focus on the abundant life that Jesus has supplied.
It is also strange that we as a culture spend so much more time and energy celebrating Christmas then Easter. In Christ’s life it is really his death on the cross that was the culmination. It was his death for us that brought us freedom. Maybe that is the one thing the mall has right. They do start decorating for Easter although it is mostly bunnies. As you take down the decorations over the next few days remember that our Saviour was not a gift that was consumed. He is still with us. The real celebrations are yet to come.
Happy New Year
Mark Wallace
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