So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 (NIV)
Sometimes Christmas does not feel like the season of joy and light that it should. Sometimes Christmas feels like a giant snowball of expectations and activities that roars in the Friday after Thanksgiving and doesn’t roll out until the new year has been rung in. If we aren’t careful, it can squash us flat.
I have ordered Christmas cards, purchased Christmas presents for my family, organized the advent calendar, decorated the house, bought the tree, decorated the tree, marched in a Christmas parade, and gotten Christmas packages together for our kiddos we sponsor in Africa. And I am exhausted. If you need me, I will be in bed until January.
Maybe you have also been squashed by the Christmas snowball. (I may have picked you up when I was rolling down the mountain of bills I was paying yesterday . . . sorry about that.) But here is the thing. Almost none of these activities that are flattening me or you are really Christmas. They are all the trappings we have added to Christmas.
RELATED: A CHERISHED REMINDER OF LOVE
We don’t need more parties, or decorations, or gifts, or worries, or expectations to be added to Christmas. What we really need is some grace. For ourselves and others. And we need to love people. My husband just told me that all of us need at least eight hugs a day. He read it somewhere. It sounds about right. And mostly, we need to remember Jesus. Jesus. The Savior. Emmanuel. Breath of Heaven. Redeemer. Bright and Morning Star. Friend. He loves us. There is nothing snowballish about Him. He came so that we could be free . . . not flattened. So breathe.
Grab some grace and spread it around. Hug somebody. And remember that the Light of the World loves you. Completely. Wholly. Without reservation. And that is the real Christmas.
FAITH STEP: Repeat the names of Jesus out loud, slowly, pondering their meaning and letting the knowledge that He loves you completely penetrate your heart.
