I had a sweet word from a friend the other day about my lack of blogging and she nudged me a bit to get back to it. As I told her there have been more than a few reasons not to lately, the biggest one being I've been doing lots of journal writing for another purpose but other little reasons were adding up as well. Anyway, kick the little reasons out the door and took the suggestion to get back to it.
Someone told me yesterday that a friend of hers had canceled Christmas this year. Since that's impossible, I'm guessing he meant he was cancelling his own personal Christmas...no lights, no gifts, no celebrating. I understand his reason...he feels it's too commercialized. I agree. It's most definitely not celebrated in many circles as the birth of our Savior but I don't think I can go to his extreme. We absolutely LOVE Christmas in the Leopard house. The decorations begin going up Nov 1st. I'm not a fan of Halloween so it's usually all I can do to get through that and onto Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yes, we make a big deal out of Thanksgiving, I just don't decorate for that. Sorry. I'm one of those that tends to overdo a bit (my husband would say a LOT) but I love everything about Christmas and I believe that Jesus deserves the best of everything and the most of everything so we do lots of lights, gifts, family time, worship time for about 2 months around here.
The bible talks a lot about celebrating. The OT is full of feasts and celebrations. Worship itself is celebration and I'm not shy about being over-the-top with that either. God encourages joy!! He encourages us to celebrate who He is and all that He has done for us. Ezra connected celebrating with giving. Giving to others strengthens us and fills us with joy. What joy is there in hoarding up for ourselves? Sidenote...if you watch the show about hoarders, I've noticed, they don't seem like very happy or joyful people. Ok, back to the main road. So many people think that God is anti-celebration and wants to take the fun out of life. His Word tells us that He came to give us abundant life John 10:10. I believe that those who know and love Christ have more reason than anyone to celebrate!!
Think about your holiday traditions. What do they say about you? What or whom do they say you love and treasure the most? Do you make Jesus part of your Christmas celebrations or is He the center of them? Do you leave Him out completely in the rush of it all? Is He the greatest gift that you give away at Christmas? Hopefully we are giving Him the entire year!! Let's not be one of those people who TALK about sharing Him, let's do the thing. Share your story about your walk with Christ but don't get so caught up in YOUR story that you really don't share HIS story. We will fill the stores and restaurants over the next few weeks. Will we tell our waitress and store clerks that Christmas is all about Jesus and how much He loves them, so much that He came at Christmas so that He could die for them so that they could live? He's not just the reason for THE season, He's the reason for EVERY season.
So celebrate Him!!! Don't apologize for making the most out of His birthday just make sure He's the focus of it and everything revolves around Him!!! Merry Christmas!!!
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