The year 2020 has certainly been a trying time for everyone. It has been a difficult year in so many dimensions including reducing the opportunity for personal interactions through lockdowns and limitations on the number of people that could safely gather together. These difficulties were highlighted during the recent Thanksgiving holiday when people were advised not to travel and not to gather together as families to be safe from coronavirus. The same recommendations may become reality for the Christmas holidays as well – who can know what may happen in the next few weeks with coronavirus still rampant in our country and world!!
Because of these extraordinary difficult times we currently live in, it is even more important than ever that we remember and focus on the special time of the Christmas season. It is especially important that we remember that hope, joy, peace, and love are the foundational building blocks of the Christian faith and the focus of the Advent season that we have now entered as a church of God. It is especially important that we remember this year to share our own gifts with our loved ones and everyone we come in contact with of our personal hope, joy, peace, and love. It is especially important that we can turn down the volume and reduce the white noise that swirls around us producing such negativity in our lives these days. Is it possible to make this Christmas season special for ourselves, our loved ones, and everyone we encounter by focusing on the “true reason for the season”??? Can we focus our attention on celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ which has changed the world for over 2,000 years now, and will continue to be the focus of our lives during and long after this coronavirus has been defeated?
Can we give hope to someone we know who is in need of hope? Can we provide joy to someone who is not very joyful during this holiday season? Can we help someone find peace in their heart who is struggling greatly with the effects of the coronavirus? Can we love someone this holiday season who may not be very lovable right now because of the life circumstances surrounding them? These are the true gifts we can share with those we love and others in need during this holiday time which is a usually stressful time anyway and even moreso this year.
Let me conclude with a prayer that I came across written by Renee Swope, a Christian author.
“The Manger of My Heart”
This Advent, Lord, come to the manger of my heart.
Fill me with Your presence from the very start.
As I prepare for the holidays and gifts to be given,
Remind me of the gift You gave when You sent Your Son from Heaven.
The first Christmas gift, it was the greatest gift ever.
You came as a baby born in a manger.
Wrapped like the gifts I find under my tree,
Waiting to be opened, to reveal Your love to me.
Restore to me the wonder that came with Jesus’ birth,
When He left the riches of Heaven and wrapped Himself in rags of earth.
Immanuel, God with us, Your presence came that night.
And angels announced, “Into your darkness, God brings His Light.”
“Do not be afraid,” they said, to shepherds in the field.
Speak to my heart today, Lord, and help me to yield.
Make me like those shepherd boys, obedient to Your call.
Setting distractions and worries aside, to You I surrender them all.
Surround me with Your presence, Lord, I long to hear Your voice.
Clear my mind of countless concerns and all the holiday noise.
Slow me down this Christmas, let me not be in a rush.
In the midst of parties and planning, I want to feel Your hush.
This Christmas, Jesus, come to the manger of my heart.
Invade my soul like Bethlehem, bringing peace to every part.
Dwell within and around me, as I unwrap Your presence each day.
Keep me close to You, Lord. It’s in Your wonderful Name I pray.
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
AMEN!