11/28/2024
It's Thanksgiving eve and I'm already tired. I'm not the one cooking and hosting. I'm not even concerned about Thanksgiving.
I'm already exhausted from Christmas. The cleaning. The decorating. The lists. The bills that will follow.
My house is decorated but it also feels out of sorts…. Things are moved…. Things have been added…2 trees, 2 more. Candles and garland and figurines.
Everything has been put on hold…the holidays are here. I hear it at work…. After the holidays. I hear it with friends….After the holidays.
The holidays are here and they've interrupted everything. They are an interruption. And to tell you the truth…I'm annoyed. I don't have time for this….this interruption.
I've started questioning what it is even all for. Gifts will be bought. Gifts will be given. Gifts will be returned or lost or stuffed in a drawer.
Why have I turned my house upside down? Really…what is the point?
Yes…I know. It's Christmas. It's about Jesus. But why all this fuss? Why must my year…my life…be interrupted this much?
And then I look at the tree. At the lights that are softly glowing and illuminating the night.
My house has been prepared. It's been cleaned and spiced fragrances fill the air. Warm glowing lights twinkle here and there.
My house….my home…. has set the mood. It's warm and full of a special feeling.
And now that it is ready, I can prepare my heart. I can slow down and breathe.
I can be still and know.
Know that yes, the holidays- Christmas- is an interruption. And so was Jesus. He interrupted a tired, dark, and hopeless world. He interrupted sin and death. Everything about Him, from His birth to His death, was an interruption.
And we need to be interrupted now. To stop everything and remember Him. Remember why He came, how He came. How He died and how He'll come again.
Remember the gifts He gave us…life, hope, forgiveness, salvation, and His own Spirit.
Remember the light He brought into this world.
Remember the peace He left us with.
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