Anticipating Christ: Joy

I don't know if this happens for others, but it certainly does for me - the Christmas season is hard. There is a lot of busyness. I want to capture the magical nature of my childhood. I want the wrapping paper to match. I want to watch every movie I ever loved during this season. I want hot chocolate and a fire and Christmas carols. 

But I'm busy. I'm tired. And I get overwhelmed when I try to do all of those things. There's little joy in the season when I look at a big "To Do" List to meet all of my expectations.

I think there has been a shift for my Christmas season over the last several years with good reason. What I'm slowly coming to realize is that Christmas is more than matching wrapping paper and hot chocolate. You know, the bells and whistles. Clearly, this is obvious - but entertain me for a bit.

I'm certain the Lord has been stripping me. That's the Christian life, am I right? He is constantly stripping us of the unnecessary to make room or shall we say "prepare Him room" for the necessary. Side note: All of the fun things for Christmas are fun and shouldn't be ignored. However, I think the Lord has really been pushing me to look more at Christmas.. and the reason. We say "Jesus is the reason for the season", but do we really live that? Christmas joy comes from celebrating the coming Messiah. The One who will fill us, and the One who will free us. The One who has freed us. 

It's hard. But thankfully our God is patient. He knows our sinful condition, which is why He sent Jesus. He is giving us a greater joy than any hot chocolate and fireplace can spark. He has given us His Son. This joy is the reconciliation to our Creator God. It is being restored to the image of Christ. This is the lasting, full and true joy this season.

Joy to the World

The Lord is come.

Let earth receive her King.

Let every heart prepare Him room.... 

You can check out Amelia's peace post by visiting http://ameliamcneilly.com.