Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the year, has come and gone. Fall decor has been returned to storage and the longest birthday celebration has officially started. These holidays and everything before, between, and after are all reasons to give thanks… at least from my perch. For 364-365 days, we have so many other things that distract us from the banquet to come – places that suck us dry on hope, rob us of joy, and blind us to Truth. The every-day stresses, from the seemingly insurmountable problems all the way to the miniscule irritations, do a great job of shifting our focus from the One who provided every solution.
It’s easy to get caught up in all of the things around us. When it comes to the holiday season, it’s especially easy to get caught up in the festivities and stuff that has nothing to do with the miracle in the manger. While visiting family over Thanksgiving, I helped stow away the fall decor and unpack Christmas. Seriously, the day after Thanksgiving, we hauled in the totes to pack everything to do with Fall away, and then proceeded to carry in everything that would be-deck the halls and light up the house (and all that adds festive cheer in-between). Garland replaced fall leaves, holly and mistletoe replaced pumpkins and gourds, and nativity scenes were shining bright compared to the scarecrows that once smiled over the room.
All beautiful distractions. I found myself itching to go to Hobby Lobby to start building my decoration collection. I’m in my forties and the extent of my decorating stops at the tree. I really want to have seasonal decorations vomit throughout my home – it’s a goal. For some, decorating is frowned upon. What does it have to do with Jesus? Lights, and trees, and garland has nothing to do with the Reason for the season! Ah contraire… I know that when we celebrate birthdays, there are usually some decorations put up, balloons filled, and candles lit. Why wouldn’t we decorate, however meager or extravagantly, to celebrate the birthday of our Savior? If we decorate for any birthday, I would think His would be the one we put the most effort into.
Then there are those who argue about the crime of commercialism and the lies parents tell their children about Santa. Yes, the world has decided to take advantage of our time of celebration and have blown it out of control with so many stressors – the devil wants to distract us from why we should be celebrating. We started giving gifts because the wise men gave gifts to Jesus, and He was the gift of love to the world. Now we can’t seem to focus on anything other than finding gift upon gift upon gift – and that’s just the stocking stuffers!
It’s certainly not the parents who pile the presents under the tree and leave treats in the stockings, but Santa who came in through the chimney (even if there isn’t one in the home), after he landed his flying reindeer-powered sleigh on the roof – that originated in the North Pole where everything was made by elves. What a tale! I’m sure that’s where the talking snowmen are, too.
But children believe it… Their eyes get big as saucers, their mouth forms a perfect, soundless “O”, and they start the endless list of what they want to find under the tree come Christmas morning. Why is it, then, so hard for them to believe the real reason for the season? Why is it so hard for adults to believe in Him? Some believe in Him, but then call it good. They made their proclamation of faith, but insist that they don’t need to learn more about Him – they’re good with “child-like” faith.
I recently came across a book filled with “Would you rather” questions. Would you rather eat a cockroach or a tarantula? Um, neither, thank you very much! If given the choice, would you rather seek God out when things get tough or have Him so close all the time that the tough things seem easy? Would you rather have peace all the time or only when you’ve come out on the other side of turmoil?
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” II Peter 1:2-4 (NKJV)
I love these verses! What is multiplied to us through the knowledge of God? Grace and peace. That’s just in the first dozen words! Unpacking the rest of this verse, we’ve been given everything pertaining to life and godliness, and do you know every promise that God has made to you? Those promises – I don’t know them all – are exceedingly great! Exceedingly… I’m often baffled by how wide and long and high and deep His love for us is (Ephesians 3:16-19), and if that’s not enough, He’s made promises so that we can be partakers of the divine nature – this is an inheritance from our Father!
I mentioned last week that we need to get to know God personally. Not just hear our pastor tell us that God loves us, but really dig in and know that God loves us. Why is this so important? When we seek to know the heights, depths, widths, and lengths of God’s love, we may surprise ourselves on how we behave. Walking in the knowledge of God – the knowledge of His love for us, we won’t be able to help but have peace… we won’t hesitate on extending grace… and we’ll live in a godlier way than we ever did when we were content with “child-like” faith.
Once God’s love becomes real to you, you won’t get distracted by all the stuff, all the seemingly insurmountable problems, or get caught up in the stresses of life. You’ll be able to decorate with joy in preparation for the King’s birthday (I still only have a tree this year – but I will reach my goal eventually). It’s through His love for us that we are more than conquerors – that nothing can separate us from that same love (Romans 8:37-39). Don’t you think it would be to our advantage to try to find out everything we can about our greatest ally, asset, and benefactor? Not to mention Creator, Savior, and Lord?
When we know Truth, we’ll be able to discern out the lies. We’ll be able to sort out the truth from the fiction (that would be the commercialized Santa, the elves making the toys, the North Pole being their home, flying reindeer, talking snowmen, and getting it all done in one night). We’ll see the value in the Truth over the lies.
As we enter into the holiday season (this includes all the people who put their trees up in October), I urge you to grow your knowledge of God – in your knowledge of God, of His love for you, and you’ll experience a change like you’ve never imagined.