How Was Your Christmas?

Looking back a couple of days, how was your Christmas?  Was it what you had expected?  Did things go as smoothly as you had wanted them to?  It is likely that all was not perfect, rarely does everything go perfectly, however have you thought about what you would have needed to have a more perfect or a more lasting Christmas?

Some of the joys of Christmas would not have lasted, the toys would have lost their appeal, the food was eaten, the company left or didn’t arrive.  Perhaps there were some hostile words spoken.  Take a moment to think about what would bring greater happiness to your life?  What would bring greater peace to your life?  What would bring greater fulfillment to you?

It seems like we all want more.  We tend to want more money, more possessions, more success, more love, more security, more strength, more honor, more of everything.  However in Deut. 8:2, 3, God says that when He brought the Israelites into the promised land, He humbled them and tested them “so that you would know that man does not love by bread alone. But by every word that proceeds from the mouth of The Lord.”

Perhaps the dissatisfaction that comes after Christmas is an indication that we should not be seeking to have great fulfillment from the things we have, or from the things around us.  Instead our life is to come from the very word of God living in our hearts.  The humbling frustrations that come after Christmas are allowed so that we will seek for that which truly satisfies.

Then when God provides and blesses we are told in 2 Cor. 9:11  “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (NIV)”  The blessings and working of God in our life is not just for our benefit, but so that many around us would benefit as well.

This Christmas season, if you have been blessed, share some of that blessing with others.  If you have found yourself frustrated – use that experience to help you realize and to obtain the true source of life which comes from the words of our Lord Jesus Christ.