SLOW US DOWN LORD

Things are beginning to get incredibly busy right now for all of us…there is so much to do, do, do. Christmas is not just commercialized it is down right exhausting.” I heard my first Christmas song on the radio almost a whole week before Thanksgiving.

We have a human and spiritual need to be connected to God in the intimate way that Mary held her son Jesus in her arms. Yet all the shopping, decorating, party preparations, card-writing, etc. can keep us from the very reason we’re celebrating Christmas in the first place. It calls us to who is important. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior.

Scripture reminds us “God is Love, and he or she who dwells or continues in love, dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in them.” 1 John 4:16.

So why not slow down a bit and do less in preparing for Christmas, for sometimes to do less can mean more. Remember it is not about you or me, it is about God’s very best gift to the human race his only begotten Son our Lord. Yes our family’s can be programmed for the season for you to create memories, but if you find yourself doing a lot of things in a rush say a prayer. While writing Christmas cards, say a prayer for each person as you write their card. While baking cookies, pray for the people in the world who need food, warmth and love. While buying presents, ask God to help you choose wisely a gift of love, instead of buckling in to commercial pressures from within the family or from without.

Jesus said, “Your attitude must be like my own, for I the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and give my life.” Matt 20:28.

We were shaped for serving God and one another. We are God’s hand crafted work of art. We are not an assembly line product, mass-produced without thought. God deliberately shaped and formed us to serve him in a way that makes our individual and corporate ministries unique. This means nothing that happens in our life is insignificant to God or us for that matter. “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph. 10. Slow us down O Lord.

Dear God, help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.
Remind us, God, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Dear God, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

In Ministry with You!

Pastor Dave