Keeping Christmas? Christmas is over. Or is it?
Every year has a similar pattern. After the gifts are opened and the guests have gone home, the tree comes down and the decorations are stored for another year. Recipes for gingerbread and egg nog are put away. Thoughts turn to other things. The focus shifts to getting back to work or school and getting on with the demands of daily life. Some may plan ski trips or super bowl parties. Some get bogged down in the winter cold and just look forward to spring.
Yet, it is not unusual to hear someone express a desire to keep the Christmas spirit alive all year. At Christmastime people are generally friendlier, kinder, more generous. Joy bubbles up easily.
I have known a few people who try to keep the Christmas spirit alive by leaving decorations up all year. The practice is not really all that effective. Seeing a house decorated for Christmas in May or August just feels a bit weird.
But the Christmas spirit deserves to live on. We should care about keeping Christmas. Christmas is all about Jesus. We celebrate His birth. More than at any other time, we think about Him, we talk about Him, we worship Him.
But Jesus didn’t come to change a day–He came to change our world. He came to change our lives.
He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19). Apart from Him, we are all lost– separated from God by a sin nature that causes us to seek our own way instead of His. Jesus came to earth as a baby. God subjected Himself to all the limitations and struggles of human life to identify with us and make a way for us to be with Him forever. He shared in our humanity. He lived a perfect, sinless life and died in our place. By His death and resurrection He broke the power of sin and death in our lives.
He offers real life when we turn to Him. When we welcome Him into our hearts we are re-born into new life (John 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17). Through Him, we have reconciliation with God (John 1:12). We keep Christmas by knowing Him and submitting to His authority over us. We follow Him in our daily lives by seeking His will and living out His commandments.
The Christmas spirit spreads through the year when we remain focused on Jesus, and live in ways that glorify Him.
The joy, hope, and peace of Christmas are all because of Jesus. He is Emmanuel–God with us. He is just as present with us in March or July as in December. Think about Him. Talk about Him. Worship Him. Carry His light into the dark places of our world. When we do that, the Christmas spirit lives on.
When Jesus lives in us, we carry His Spirit wherever we go. That’s keeping Christmas.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV
How will you keep the Christmas spirit alive this year? Please leave a comment below.
Blessings,
Phyllis
Copyright 2024 Phyllis L. Farringer
Image by Joe from Pixabay
Thanks Phyllis! I’m not one to make New Year resolutions but do set some goals for each new year. This is now my goal for 2025…keep the spirit of Christmas all year through! Thank you for the inspiration! I pray God will fill your 2025 with more revelation of Himself❣️
Thank you, Cheryl. May we all see Him more clearly, day by day.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, having hope and joy and peace every day is a great goal – and keeping in touch with God is the only way I know that will work.
It’s the only way I know, as well. Thank you, Joni.