So here we are just days past step 1 of the holiday trilogy, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. It's funny, the older I get, the more they just seem to all run together as I'm busy trying to clean up from one and prepare for the next.
For the first time ever, we went to cut down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. That's what got me thinking about this trinity. Maybe we should find significance in the way these holidays are ordered.
1. Thanksgiving.
Take inventory. What are you thankful for? What is your life really made up of? Who did you want to experience "carb overload" with? Are you thankful enough? Is Thanksgiving really the only time you consider going around the table and saying what you're grateful for?
A great place to start.
In fact, our pastor last Sunday made this statement:
True gratitude is a barometer of trust in God. Gratefulness is inseparably linked with surrender to Jesus.
Hmmm, as you ponder that we creep up on Christmas.
2. Christmas
Christ mas. Everything in our life isn't really ours, it's on loan from our Lord and Savior. If we were struggling on the first stop with gratitude, then maybe this is a good time to revisit our real roots. And for us not to forget,
This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:20
And if I'm really going out on a limb I'd say that Black Friday was Satan's work to distract us from the real reason for the season. At least he saw the crack in the door and kicked it wide open with scenes like those in a Tennessee Wal-Mart of people trampling each other for a video game system.
I hope this Christmas that you and I take some time alone with God. Time to just truly be still and be aware and be in His presence. Yes, you can deck the halls and all that jazz but let's not do it at the expense of everyone's sanity. (This one will come back to bite me as I've been known to do this on occasion, okay, lots of occasions.)
Feel the warmth of the season fully by walking with Him, not just warming your feet by the fire.
And then you'll be ready for your final stop on this holiday trinity tour.....
3. The New Year.
A time to make changes, a time for a fresh start. Invite the Lord into your resolutions this coming year and see what kind of things come to mind. And if weight loss really is on the list then maybe Rick Warren's book should be on your Christmas list.
