Now this whisper did not bring to mind what you might expect. Are you preparing? What comes to mind first? The return of Christ? Do we forget that He is already with us?
I get frustrated over Christmas because I feel that it distracts me from my beloved Christ. In my own feeble humanity I daily prepare for Christ. I love to sit with Him and hear what He wants to teach me. Yet when the Christmas season starts pushing, I truthfully get sideswiped and distracted from these precious times with the Lord. I resent materialism and loose my joy; I get in a rush and forget the important things. Where is the witness for Christ in me when I do this? What honor does it bring to the King of kings? I am no better than a Pharisee!
There are so many lost souls right now who are concerned about the second coming or as they see it , the end of time. Have we, His witnesses forgotten the first coming? Do we send forth light or cast a shadow? And what exactly do we allow to control us during the Christmas season?
When I heard the whisper say are you preparing - this time it was not in reference to the final appearance of Christ, as you might expect. If that were the case I could, and have in my own Pharisaical way say "yes I am trying but this Christmas mess just gets in the way". Rather the question for me is am I really preparing for the Christmas season or do I just allow it to haphazardly happen, snowballing into at season of joyless flurry.? I see this as a challenge - a challenge for Christ. Instead of belly aching it would serve better to start right now preparing for Christmas. Focusing my effort on things like working out a schedule of family visiting that will not be so rushed, to start talking about the level of gift giving and planing to scale back decorating to a simple and pleasurable level.
The real question is am I preparing physically for a spiritual Christmas? Do I allow Christ to work His miracles in me today - on my attitude for example? There is a balance. Christ told us to be in the world, but not of it. I cannot deny the world that He has called me to. So, I will, with His help, choose to focus now on the details, so that when that blessed season arrives again, I can truly enjoy it! This will not happen without an effort any more than my constant struggle of living a kingdom life in a material world on a day to day basis can occur without daily preparation.
Are you preparing? Why is it that when we have seen His miracles in big things, we continue to question him in the small things ?
Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
John 2:8-9
