At church yesterday I said something like “Don’t do so much to celebrate Christmas that you forget Jesus.“  Let's dive into that a little more.  As we enter into the Christmas season, there is sometimes this battle going on for our time and attention.  Every store has something on sale and they are clamouring for us to know about it.  The Christmas schedule is filling up and we are wondering how we can get to everything!

These aren’t necessarily bad things.  There are just a lot of things!

I thought I would poke my head into the mix and propose and idea-  you have options. 

You can choose peace.

You can choose presence.

In John 14:27 Jesus told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (NIV).”

Even when the world is buzzing- you can have peace in your spirit.

But you might have to be intentional about it.

If you are just going with the flow, you are more likely to be swept into the frenzy of activity that may leave you feeling burnt out and even dreading Christmastime! 

We don’t want to have a Christmas hangover in January!

I want to you to celebrate Christmas with all your might- like David danced before the presence of God in the Old Testament.  But to do that without losing your peace,  you have to spend time in the presence of God!

This reminds me of a blog post I wrote about 8 years ago.  I was reflecting on my birthday and how it’s often easier to give gifts than give ourselves.  We’d rather purchase presents than give people our presence.  Even God wants connection with us more than he needs anything we do for him. 

As we reflect on the Christmas season, I wonder what God would want for Christmas.  I wonder if instead of doing so much to celebrate, he might want us to be still for awhile and give him ourselves.  To just take some time and adore him.  Turn off the wonderful Christmas songs (just for a few minutes!) and remember that the reason for the season is alive and with you right now. 

I just wanted to encourage you to take some time amongst all your other holiday activities and spend some time with the Lord.  He wants to pour out his peace in your life.  His peace that is beyond our understanding.  The peace of Jesus.

I pray that you can enjoy the peaceful presence of Jesus this holiday season, and then celebrate Christmas with all your might!