You are preparing your Christmas shopping list, the cookies, and your time to accommodate all the activities you want to participate in. Do not forget the lights, tree, decorations, presents or wrapping paper . Do not forget all the planning, inviting guests, grocery shopping and cooking that you have to do. We prepare for Christmas, but do we actually prepare for the Christ of Christmas? Let me assure you that Jesus is more interested in how you prepare yourself for Christmas than He is in all of your other Christmas preparations.
God wants the most powerful impact of this Christmas to be the one He makes on your heart.
Let me ask you again, are you ready? Are you prepared for the coming of the King? Are you prepared for Christmas and Christ? How are you preparing your heart for Christmas? How are you preparing your life for Christ? Evaluate what the meaning of Christmas makes in your daily planner, your checkbook, your family, your marriage, your friendships and your spiritual growth.
Society and traditions try to tell us how to live our lives around the holidays and even how to celebrate our holidays. We need to be ourselves and serve the God we love by living for Christ all year round. Don’t allow people or circumstances in your life to break your holiday spirit and steal your joy. The words that come out of our mouths show what is in our hearts, and our actions will speak even louder than our words. The things we do and say show the kind of lifestyle that we have. Don’t become what the pressures of life want to mold you into, but rather, become a person full of joy and peace all year round. Then, it is not just a holiday thing, it is a lifestyle choice. When we do things the way God wants, and not by our own way or by our own plan, those changes become more permanent. Why change the way you act and behave like the seasons change? Just be the same happy, joyful, peaceful, giving person all year long. Then, you will not have to change around the holidays to fit in.
People will try to tell you how to celebrate Christmas but don’t let it happen. Make sure you wish someone a Merry Christmas every chance you get. May God bless you this holiday season! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Pastor Tony Guadagnino
Christian Love Fellowship Church
