Keep Your Focus On Jesus This Christmas
I heard a story about a woman who was doing her last-minute Christmas shopping at a crowded mall. She was tired of fighting the crowds. She was tired of standing in lines. She was tired of fighting her . . .
. . . way down long aisles looking for a gift that had sold out days before. Her arms were full of bulky packages when the elevator door opened. It was full.
The occupants of the elevator grudgingly tightened ranks to allow a small space for her and her load. As the doors closed she blurted out, “Whoever is responsible for this whole Christmas thing ought to be arrested, strung up, and shot!” A few others nodded their heads or grunted in agreement. Then, from somewhere in the back of the elevator came a single voice that said, “Don’t worry. They already crucified him.”
It’s so easy to lose our focus in the middle of the busiest time of the year. Here’s a novel thought . . .
Let’s keep our focus on Jesus more than ever this Christmas.
John the apostle reminds us about just who Jesus is:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. . . . 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-4, 14
We really can keep Jesus first this season – and every season. So, I’ve got some very practical ideas for you to:
Keep Your Focus Jesus This Christmas
- Get up a little earlier in the morning, at least once a week and read about the very first Christmas. Share these verses with your family. Matthew 1:18 through 2:12 Luke 1:26-45
- Enjoy Christmas music in your home while decorating, cooking, cleaning or wrapping gifts.
- Watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” together with your family. This cartoon by Charles Schultz is one of the few Christmas TV shows to directly deliver the gospel message.
- Take a plate of Christmas goodies to a lonely neighbor.
- Give Christmas cards with a message about Jesus Birth instead of a silly joke or anecdote.
- Wish a “Merry Christmas” to every sales clerk you come into contact with.
- Throughout the holiday season, give your family the gift of a sweet disposition.
- Finally, reflect on HIS Gift every day.
Enjoy the season, the decorations, the festivities, and the culture of generosity but, focus more on the birth of Christ than anything else. His gift to us is the greatest ever!
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.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Steve 🙂
Thanks Steve. More healthy reminders
I gave serious thought this Christmas to what changes I have seen in my 60 years here on earth. Unless we do the things that Steve pointed out above, I am afraid that, in my lifetime, Jesus Christ will be a mythical character in most people’s eyes just as Santa Claus is today. And the ” Holiday Season” will merely be a time that we all buy gifts for each other in an effort to rally our economy which is the true meaning of ” Black Friday”. It is up to us Christians to carry on the battle and remind all that we are celebrating the life of our Savior! Merry Christmas to ALL!
Wonderful exhortation! I thought one of the most powerful ones was “to give your family the gift of a sweet disposition”. If you have lost your “sweet disposition”, then you have lost the essence of CHRISTmas! STOP! Don’t do another thing until you get it back! The fruit of the Spirit is JOY. So spend some time in the presence of the Holy Spirit and don’t leave until your joy is restored! The world is watching you this holiday season. Allow them to see the joy of a relationship with the Savior! He is the gift we should be handing out! Merry Jesus’ birthday!