Today's Devotional Thought
December 12, 2015 by Wendy Foreman
Quiet Your Heart at Christmas
The trees are decorated, the stockings are hung on the fireplace, garland is hanging everywhere and as I type this I am sitting in the glow of the lights of our Christmas tree. I have been to three Christmas parties and have two more to go next week. The children/youth Christmas program is this weekend and my week has been filled with 3 rehearsals as myself and two other ladies have been working with the children since the beginning of September for this very weekend.
I have barely come up for air since Thanksgiving.
Christmas is one of the busiest times of year and it seems every year it gets busier. This year a friend gave me a prayer journal titled "Quieting Your Heart for the Holidays." This gift has been a tremendous blessing to me in the midst of one of the busiest seasons of my life ever. It has encouraged me to reflect on all that is truly important to me. It seems most Christmases my schedule is so full and we are going from one thing to another. We are buying gifts, wrapping gifts, baking cookies, cooking food, going to parties, gathering with family and the next thing we know Christmas is over and we are taking down the decorations and wondering where it went. We had no time to really celebrate the birth of Christ in the midst of it because our minds are on the next thing we have to do. This journal, this concept of quieting your heart has transformed my thinking and my schedule.
Quieting my heart this time of year has allowed me to reflect on the birth of Christ and on why he came. Ask most people and they will be able to tell you that Christmas has to do with Jesus, that baby in the manger but ask them questions beyond that and they may be more hesitant to answer because they don't know much more than that.
What amazes me as I take the time to focus on the reason for why we celebrate Christmas is that God had a plan from the very beginning. He knew he would send his son as a baby to this earth to save us. That baby would change the course of history through his teaching, through the revelation that he was God's Son, through the relationships he built with his disciples and through the way he lived his life out before this world. But then, He would willingly die a cruel death, a death that would close the gap between us and God that sin had created. That sin had to be covered by the blood of a spotless, perfect lamb. That perfect spotless lamb was Jesus. His death brought to us hope and a promise of eternal life with Him in Heaven.
This Christmas as I have made the choice to be still and quiet my heart before Him I have seen Him in new ways.
I wonder if perhaps I'm not the only one this season who is feeling burned out and in need of a fresh new glimpse of Him.
Friends, may I encourage you to quiet your hearts before Him, to be still and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Pick up a journal and pen and start writing out a prayer about your Christmas, perhaps what you are thankful for, what you would like to do or see this Christmas.
Pick up His Word and read the Christmas story and ask the Lord to show you something new in it. Allow the beautiful love story of a Savior who loved you so much He would send his only son to die for you, allow that story to penetrate your heart, mind and your life. The truth of that story will change the way you see Christmas.
Oh friends, I pray that you see our Savior in a very real, sweet and precious way this Christmas season. He came because he loved you!!
December