Christmas lights are going up, trees coming out of the attic and Santa and the Elf will soon be everywhere. While I’m not one to decorate early, I do typically have the bulk of my shopping knocked out by December 1st. In so many ways we are preparing, but in our preparations and the hustle and bustle of the month we often neglect the single most important thing – preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ.
Years ago when our oldest was just two I attended a “Redeeming Christmas” workshop which shaped my perspective and influenced how we’ve celebrated Christmas all these years. Prior to the seminar I wasn’t so sure about my husband’s thoughts on Santa. But I couldn’t deny Santa was not WHO I wanted my kids focused on. So just as putting on princess or super hero costumes transports kids to a land of make-believe, our kids still had fun pretending Santa without ever actually believing.
I haven’t shared this too openly – in all honesty – because I feared we would be judged to be the Starbucks cup-hating kind of Christians. But I hope enough of you have done real live life with us or at least read enough of what I write to know we care more about redeeming culture than remaining in a holy huddle. And when it comes to effecting change, the Christian culture needs as big an overhaul as the world it looks down on.
The reason I mention Santa is not because I think we are better for not having done Santa the same way and I don’t think he’s the bad guy, it was just a decision we personally made with hopes of elevating the babe in the manger as the greatest gift. There are other ways to incorporate more of Christ, but we must prepare a place for Him to come in to our hearts and homes. Like with anything without proper planning, time easily passes us by and our good intentions are just that – good intentions. So though the Advent season doesn’t officially begin until next Sunday, I hope we (me and my family included) will take this week to figure out how as families we can focus more on Christ this season.
Afterall, the season of Advent is the Christians’ high holy days and while those of other religions diligently practice and celebrate their holy days, Christians too easily allow other things to hijack our worship of Christ.
Therefore the questions I’m asking myself once again this year are:
- How will I spend more time preparing my/our heart(s) than my home?
- If Jesus were to return this Christmas would He recognize Himself as the One celebrated?
I would love to hear some of the ways you plan to incorporate more of Christ through the season. And if you are looking for more practical ideas, I will plan to send some out in a newsletter next week – the newsletter I keep trying to make time to do! (If you aren’t subscribed you can do so on the top right-hand side of this website.)
I hope though in this post you hear my heart – we do not do any of this perfectly! It is a real struggle to even sit down together, much less read Scripture together. But over the years we have created our own Christmas traditions and I don’t think my kids were too deprived without the traditional way of Santa. (Though I still feel bad about the few they ruined the secret for!) What I do know is celebrating Christmas focused primarily on Christ reminds us daily of who we desperately need to come – not just during Advent but everyday – to reorient our hearts away from self and onto a Savior.
