Anyone else feel the ache of Christmas being done? The anticlimactic days after the holiday? We load so much energy into Christmas and other holidays that we collapse the days following. The high stress level we carried into the day dispenses and we are left exhausted and lethargic. When clean up and putting away the Christmas stuff away is done we are left with an emptiness that hovers over us for days, weeks, or even months. All this is evidence that we have made Christmas about everything but Jesus. Yes, we sang the carols, went to church, sent the cards and wished everyone well; but we failed to keep the central focus on Jesus. It is Jesus that we are to carry within us every day of the year. Everyday should be Christmas and Easter all rolled into one with a splash of Pentecost thrown in for power! The "day after" is not the end of the Christmas season anymore than putting away the Christmas plates is a sign of our last supper! We may have gifts that remind us of Christmas day and they may linger. We may even find ourselves reflecting on those gifts and the giver from time to time. Even the ugly sweater! Why do we forget to remember that the day is not gone?
As much as I try, peer pressure makes me take down my Christmas lights outside and inside year after year. I usually can get away with leaving them up until the end of January but not much beyond then. I've had neighbors who weren't believers leave their Christmas lights up year round only to learn later that the lights were a signal to those who wanted to buy drugs! I'm amazed at how intensely we approach Christmas; often beginning in late summer and then abruptly ending on Christmas day! It's like a huge force compelling us to rush, buy, overlook, and forget. Our world is consumed with the sale that is currently taking place, the need to compose menu's and the arrival of out of town friends and relatives. Instead of pointing to Jesus we end up pointing all to ourselves, what we have accomplished and what we can afford. It's an ugly truth. Jesus encountered that mentality in the temple. He saw what was going on. He took the time to braid a whip. He chased the money changers out of the temple with righteous anger. Would he have done that to us in our shopping, our travelling, our eating and opening of presents? Jesus chased the money changers out of the temple because they failed to see the temple as holy. Would Jesus chase us out of our homes because we failed to see the day as a holy celebration of His birth?
It's not over. The day is not gone. Facing the choice of being apathetic or being engrossed in the love for Christ, I'd choose the love for Christ over gifts, food and relatives/friends. How about you? What are you going to do today, tomorrow or the next day to celebrate Christmas every day? What are you going to do today, tomorrow and the next day to celebrate Easter ever day. The story isn't just about the birth. The story isn't just about the life. The story isn't just about the death. Jesus is the story! It's all about Him. When we put the holiday above Him, we commit idolatry. We can call it other things to make us feel good about our actions but it's idolatry. The day is not gone. We have that gift today and perhaps tomorrow. We have the gift of Jesus every day we are allowed to wake up on the right side of the grass. Can you and I find a way to give the gift of Jesus everyday to those around us who are perishing? If we cannot, we are telling the world the wrong story. It's not over and the day isn't gone.
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