It's Christmas. The cultural shift has been in full swing for weeks already. It only happens in December.
The music changes. No matter what genre you listen to - folk, rap, hip hop, classical, rock, country - you name it - this time of year everybody's programming shifts and either the whole station is thrown out and does nothing but Christmas music or it finds it way sprinkled into all the genres.
The landscape changes. There are lights on houses, fake deer in yards, huge inflatable snowmen in front of homes.
The food changes. All of a sudden you're eating stuff you don't eat any other time of year. Nobody says in July: 'Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? Candied yams! We're going to pour melted marshmallows on the green beans and wash it down with eggnog.' Nobody does that.
Family changes. They converge into one location from all parts of the country. You shuttle from Place 1 to Place 2 to Place 3 over a few hours in one day just to see everybody.
So you have presents and trees and yards decorated and food and music and family that you don't have the other eleven months because we love Christmas.
But here's my fear . . . that for all the lights and presents, if we're not careful we'll concentrate on the shadows and miss the form -- that when everything is said and done, you'll just have Tuesday morning this week. You'll just have a little more trash than normal, a little more debt that normal, a little messier house than normal. But beyond that, that's all you'll have - just some memories that go away on Wednesday, and there's no substance to the most meaningful time of year.
Because at Christmas what we really celebrate is God re-introducing grace to the world. When Jesus came at Christmas, God changed the relationship between Divinity and humanity. He sent His Son as a baby in a manger and the rules changed overnight.
For that moment on, God said: 'I'm going to give you exactly what you need - but I'm also going to give you exactly what you don't deserve - a relationship not based on how good you are but on how good My Son is. And if you'll receive it, I'll give you His righteousness - not because you deserve it but because I want a relationship with you.'
Can it get any better than that?
And be blessed.
The music changes. No matter what genre you listen to - folk, rap, hip hop, classical, rock, country - you name it - this time of year everybody's programming shifts and either the whole station is thrown out and does nothing but Christmas music or it finds it way sprinkled into all the genres.
The landscape changes. There are lights on houses, fake deer in yards, huge inflatable snowmen in front of homes.
The food changes. All of a sudden you're eating stuff you don't eat any other time of year. Nobody says in July: 'Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? Candied yams! We're going to pour melted marshmallows on the green beans and wash it down with eggnog.' Nobody does that.
Family changes. They converge into one location from all parts of the country. You shuttle from Place 1 to Place 2 to Place 3 over a few hours in one day just to see everybody.
So you have presents and trees and yards decorated and food and music and family that you don't have the other eleven months because we love Christmas.
'At Christmas what we really celebrate is God re-introducing grace to the world.'
But here's my fear . . . that for all the lights and presents, if we're not careful we'll concentrate on the shadows and miss the form -- that when everything is said and done, you'll just have Tuesday morning this week. You'll just have a little more trash than normal, a little more debt that normal, a little messier house than normal. But beyond that, that's all you'll have - just some memories that go away on Wednesday, and there's no substance to the most meaningful time of year.
Because at Christmas what we really celebrate is God re-introducing grace to the world. When Jesus came at Christmas, God changed the relationship between Divinity and humanity. He sent His Son as a baby in a manger and the rules changed overnight.
For that moment on, God said: 'I'm going to give you exactly what you need - but I'm also going to give you exactly what you don't deserve - a relationship not based on how good you are but on how good My Son is. And if you'll receive it, I'll give you His righteousness - not because you deserve it but because I want a relationship with you.'
Can it get any better than that?
And be blessed.
1 comment:
A very Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope it is a special one! :)
Post a Comment