As Christ rode a donkey down the streets of Jerusalem, well-intending, but misunderstanding Jews laid palm leaves down on the ground in anticipation and honor for the Messianic kingdom here on earth. Their idea was right, but their timing was wrong. Their main cry was “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matt. 21:9) Sadly, by week’s end, their words had changed to, “Crucify him!” How quickly we forget.
A similar thing happens each year about this time. Although we start out admonishing one another with, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” almost immediately Joy to the World gets replaced by the rock n’ roll songs on Alexa’s Christmas play lists. The Christmas story gets swallowed up by Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer or one of the myriads of movies. Finally, Santa vies for Jesus’ top-billing.
It seems like people, even Christians, have great difficulty in keeping first things first. For sure, we have good intentions, but the noise from the world tends to drown out the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Instead of enjoying a slower Christmas week, we have the stress of buying and wrapping gifts, going to numerous activities, and trying to keep up with the expectations of others. The peaceful and serene nativity scene is long gone, and we have now become the embodiment of the Grinch. By the time we see our mistake, this sweet season is over as we are rushing into the first quarter of the new year.
Unfortunately, this misplaced perspective is not limited to the holiday season. It even spills over into our homeschooling. When we started out homeschooling, we spent time enjoying our children. In the midst of them learning their ABC’s, we would take afternoon walks at a nature preserve and marvel at an intricately woven spider web. For that season, we reverted back to our own elementary years when learning was fun, and everything was a wonderous discovery. We were more worried about our children’s rapidly growing character than their academic success, and obedience, individuality, and creativity more than cultural acceptance. What was the result? Our children thrived academically and there was peace in our homes and, more importantly, in our hearts.
Our individual spiritual walks reflect this reality as well. When new Christians, everything was focused upon Christ. Every decision was bathed in innocent and dependent prayer. We hungered after the Word of God. The world was fresh. We were free in Christ and our joy multiplied. As time passed, however, we started to take more things for granted. We stopped marveling at the intricate work of Christ in the small things. We started to look at what we didn’t have rather than what we did have or what others had that we didn’t have. Our pursuit of theological excellence gradually choked out our sheer love for Christ as we mistakenly thought the study of God was on equal footing with a fresh relationship with Him. Benefits became more important than responsibility, and duty slowly squashed the glory of awe.
Let’s be intentional about making things different this year. May we reflect on God’s goodness to our family. May our hearts be deeply stirred by the innocent smiles of our children and their authentic excitement as the Christmas holiday reaches its climax. May our embraces be more meaningful as we know a sovereign God has blessed us with our spouse and children. May genuine and uplifting conversations around the table make social media look so blasé.
When the second half of our homeschooling year starts, may character and kindness earmark our home’s atmosphere. Even as we deepen our understanding of math, may we gain more perspective on the importance of the kingdom in our children’s lives. May we worry less about their weaknesses as we focus on their God-given strengths and interests.
Finally, may we all fall in love with Jesus all over again, praising Him for who He is and thanking Him for all He does, especially being born to die as our propitiation. In that spirit, may we long to pray to Him whenever we have some free moments, be that on the road, on our commute into the city, or sitting in the tractor. May the computer be sidelined by the Bible. May the joy of the Lord saturate all we do. May the Holy Spirit enlighten our eyes to the daily need of Christ’s presences in all we do. And may God’s grace make it happen, so that He alone gets the glory and honor.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ICHE
P.S. Please take advantage of this free family gift from ICHE: Larry Guthrie’s “ENCOUNTERS WITH EAGLES“
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