And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, full of grace and truth.
Coming off of the Christmas season, those words from the first chapter of John's gospel echo in my mind.
Jesus came!
We spent a whole month, home adorned and extra lights twinkling, meditating on the wonder of it. I am so thankful for the Christmastime season of the year. I am so thankful for it this January, that I'm letting it linger on. Our tree is still up; I plug in the lights each morning. I only took the wreath off the front door because it was brown and the lights off of the front porch because we had a warm day to do it. But inside? Inside, Christmas lingers:
the lights strung over the mantle,
the nativities displayed on the buffet in the dining room,
the hodgepodge of ornaments and knickknacks arranged around the house and on the tree,
the Christmas devotional I am still reading each morning.
Inside these walls, Christmas lingers.
Whether decorations are still up or you're more organized that I am and you've managed to put everything away already is really of no consequence. But since I have not gotten to packing ours up yet, the decorations have been teaching me a lesson.
The lights remind me of the Light of the world and the truth of His incarnation that can impact all of my days, not just December 25.
The nativities remind me of Christ's humility, His obedience to the Father, His love for me, the power of grace.
The hodgepodge of ornaments and knickknacks remind me of a heritage of faith from a family of Christians generations back.
The Christmas devotional reminds me daily just how much Christmas matters and transforms all of life.
The lesson? I must let Christmas linger inside, inside of me.
Christmas does not need to linger on in our houses. In fact, have "put away Christmas" on my list for today. But after the bulbs, baubles, and beads have been packed away, we need to let Christmas linger in our hearts.
Christmas must linger on in our hearts all year.
"Unto you a child is born" is not a message for one short season, it is the message of hope and life of all of Scripture for all of our days. God fulfilled His promise, the Messiah came! The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and that has made all the difference. Let Christmas linger.
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| One idea I had is to keep the Christ candle out all year, to remind us that Jesus is the Light of the world every day. Maybe you can choose one ornament or decoration to keep out to remind you all year, too! |
this is an awesome idea about the candle. too many times when Christmas is over and all put away I let life get me sidetracked.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on getting sidetracked! That's the story of my life. :) May 2015 be a year of less getting sidetracked for both of us, Amy, for the Lord's glory!
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