Do Not Leave All the Goodness of Christmas Behind
Christmas is gone and we’re left in awe of God’s love. The question we need to answer now is: what are we going to do about it? How does God’s love change our lives? Or do we leave the joy of Christmas untouched until the next Christmas? That would be sad…and stupid, don’t you think? I do anyway. And that’s why I do not want to leave all the goodness of Christmas behind.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Out of his
Do not leave all the goodness of Christmas behind
Why shouldn’t we leave all the goodness of Christmas behind, you ask? Well, it’s not what God wants for us. He wants us to embrace his gift to us – Jesus – and joyfully live with him all the days of our lives. The joyfulness of Christmas is to be the new normal for us. So let’s not get back to our old ways. Instead, let’s embrace God’s way of doing things. The joyful, peaceful, grace-filled way of living. I’m in, how about you?
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11, ESV,*)
Okay, you say. How are we to go about it? By putting our trust in God and believing in him. We let his Word permeate every square inch of our inner beings and start living out what we believe. So, for example, if you believe that God is good and takes care of his children, you put that belief in action. Say it aloud ‘I believe God is taking care of me’ and then live as you believe. This could mean you stop worrying and start looking for how God is working in your life. Because he is and he will take care of you.
Instead, revel in the Christmas joy year round
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7, NLT,*)
Jesus is always with us. That changes things, for everyone who believes in him. When we invite Jesus into our lives, he will work within us, through us, and for us. We can live our worries and concerns to him in prayer and trust that he will take care of us. Yet the best thing is to enjoy his presence, bask in his love, and rejoice in the joy of salvation. And when we do this, it means we carry the Christmas joy around 365 days a year. So don’t leave all the goodness of Christmas behind. It’s meant to be celebrated year round. Revel in it!
Gracious God,
Thank you for giving us Jesus.
Help us not to leave all the goodness of Christmas behind
but live them out all the days of our lives.
We believe, help our unbelief, Lord.
Show us how to stake our lives on your Word.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Q4U: Do you revel in all the goodness of Christmas year round?
Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you celebrate life with Jesus!
*[As you might have noticed, I enjoy reading the Bible in different translations and love comparing them. I have started linking the Bible verses toBiblegateway.com so you can easily read (and compare) them in the different versions I’ve used while preparing each post.].
Photo by Karthik Swarnkar on Unsplash.Linking up today with Dance with Jesus, Worth Beyond Rubies.
