Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Scripture focus: Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives – words, actions, whatever – be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Colossians 3:15-17 The Message
We are rapidly approaching the season to be jolly. Before we get totally distracted by tinsel and silver bells – I want to tell you a story. Last weekend Pete and I were up rummaging in our attic. Stuffed in the fluff of insulation, totally out of his memory box, I found Vern. Don’t panic – he’s not one of our children! But he is precious to us. Vern was one of the first dolls we ever bought our daughter. She loved Vern with a passion – and so it was with much consternation that we realized our precious Vern had been gathering insulation prickles and dust instead of living the good life – stored all cozy in a box – waiting for a grandchild to love him to pieces.
Vern came into our lives at a tough time economically. I had given up my fulltime job to be a fulltime mom, and money was tight. Our total Christmas budget – including all that glitters – was probably a hundred bucks that year. And Vern was chosen because he was…well…cheap. But she loved him, and as far as Meredith was concerned – Vern was worth his weight in gold.
Since that Christmas, we’ve had a variety of economic conditions for the holidays. I don’t know about your household, but ours is definitely looking at the financial climate of our nation and wondering if this will be a Vern kind-of-Christmas. But here’s the thing. We loved that Christmas. Meredith ripped into packages without the least concern over cost or content. She loved the houseguests and Christmas tunes. She was delighted with the lights, the tree, the sugar cookies and the mystery of Santa. She loved watching the Grinch try to steal Christmas and Charlie Brown discover the true meaning of the season. She loved her velvety red Christmas dress and her shiny black shoes. If Mema hadn’t provided the wardrobe, she’d have worn hand-me-downs, and would have loved those too!
So before we start rushing off to spend more than we make and eat more than we should – could we please pause to prepare? Could we think more about how we’re going to cultivate thankfulness than how we’re going to manage to impress the neighbors with our rollicking reindeer on the roof? I’m a big fan of houses lit to excess. In fact, I hope you go all out – string those lights! Make your yard display musical as well! My family will drive by and admire your handiwork. But only do it if you can do it with the Peace of Christ. Only do it if the Word of Christ is able to have the run of the house along with the mechanical snowmen. Use good common sense this year – and remember, the best memories aren’t about the gifting – but about the giving. I hope you’ll find time to hang with us for the next sixty days of devotionals – we’ll be concluding this year with a theme: living the satisfying life, one day at a time!
Recommended reading: Ezekiel 1 and 2 in the morning; Ezekiel 3 and Hebrews 3 in the evening
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