Slowing Down to Greet Our Savior
December 6th, 2023
It’s that time of year. On the one hand, we’re focused on the season’s school concerts, holiday shopping, the parties and festivities that come in December, and time with friends and family. At the same time, we’re focused on ending the year strong in our businesses, a last push to hit our numbers for the quarter, pleasing customers, and leading our teams.
Reading that paragraph above, your blood pressure may have risen slightly. You may have also noticed that “Christmas” wasn’t used once.
If culture had its way, that’s where we’d leave it. December would come and go, and we’d leave Christ out completely while we frantically dash through December to get to January. Even without culture’s influence, it’s easy to let Christmas come and go without slowing down to greet our Savior…
That’s my encouragement to you today. Slow down.
If you’re anything like me, December 26th arrives, and Christmas lets me down. The parties are done. The presents are done. The festivities are done, and all the people have left. Why am I let down? The answer is simple. I’ve spent a month focused on all the stuff, but not the Savior.
My mom used to have a sign she’d put up each year. “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” This catchy little holiday rhyme unimpressed the younger, less mature version of myself. Over time, though, I’ve come back to this, and I realize it is true. Jesus really is the reason. I need to slow down and make time to let him into Christmas, but how?
Here are three ways to greet your Savior…
- Schedule time to get quiet and get into the Word each day. The Gospel of Luke shares with us the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. As you’re slowing down to greet your Savior, spend some time getting to know him.
- Be present where your feet are. Part of slowing down is being present. Whether you’re at the choir concert, church, work, or at a party with family, resist the urge to drift back into the busyness of the season. Be grateful for the moments and keep your Savior present in them.
- Be grateful that Jesus came. Let the reality of that set in. Because Jesus was born in Bethlehem as a baby, the door has been opened for you to spend eternity in Heaven. No baby, no Savior, no open door.
To each of you reading this right now, Merry Christmas.
My prayer for you is that the arrival of our Savior will fill your heart and that each of you will make and take time to think about why His coming means so much to you.
- John Gamades