A Lesson Learned Each Christmas Season
Written by Steve Jackson | Senior Pastor
I love the Christmas season. I love the music. I love the sappy movies. I love the traditions. I love the festive food. And it seems as though I am not alone. Every year, stores start setting up their Christmas displays earlier and earlier. Netflix and Prime Video seem to pump out an endless supply of low-budget Christmas movies. Generally, everyone seems to be in a better mood than normal. As a society, we called it, “Christmas Spirit.”
But there is a darker underbelly to the 25 days of Christmas Spirit each December. For many, the moment the last party is attended and the last gift opened is followed by a whiplash of emotion. The shine of the Christmas Spirit is quickly replaced by the melancholy of the days that follow. We are left with the mess that needs to be cleaned, the bills that need to be paid, and the end of our vacation time. We wonder where all the joy has gone.
How do we avoid this letdown? And if we find ourselves there, what must we preach to ourselves in that moment? In the field of public safety, there is a motto, “If it is predictable, it is preventable.”
If we know we are prone to such year-end melancholy, we should be taking steps now to prevent it.
I’d like to suggest a few ideas that you might find helpful and encourage you to consider one big truth.
First, protect your time with the Lord each day. While many of us will have a little extra time off from work during this Christmas season, we also tend to have many extra commitments that arise this time of year. It is easy to allow the business of the season to fill your calendars. We often say, “He is the reason for the season,” but far too often He simply gets crowded out of the season. Don’t allow that to happen. Seize this time to fill up at the well of your Savior.
Second, move from expectations to service. Often, we have expectations of how we want the holidays to go, even if we haven’t articulated them. We want all our kids to be home. We want our plans to be equally enjoyable for everyone. We want all our traditions to fit into the calendar. But the more expectations we hold, the more we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. Rather, let’s take our eyes off ourselves and make an effort to consider the interests of others. Things don’t have to go our way for them to be a success.
We really do need to take to heart Jesus’ words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
Finally, preach the truth to yourself. All the gifts and traditions and parties of Christmas are enjoyable, but they can never satisfy your soul. Here is the big truth we need to preach to ourselves: we must not exchange the truth about God for a lie and worship and serve the created things rather than the Creator. Marketers will try to convince you that you can’t live without this thing. Christmas movies will tempt you to despair about the realities of your own life that doesn’t seem to resolve as neatly as the movie script. Even time with family won’t fill your soul to the place you won’t thirst anymore. Christmas is a yearly reminder that the best this world has to offer is unable to fill us up. It is a lesson learned afresh each Christmas season. Let it drive you to the One who invites you to drink living water and never be thirsty again.
