I spent a good bit of time the past two weeks taking care of some Christmas “stuff.” There was the one day I spent 4 hours putting together gifts for my children, and then another day I spent as much time wrapping presents for my wife. I’m not really good at it, and I do like to try and disguise things so she can’t figure out what they are. As a result, I spent as much time wrapping a few gifts as it would take many people to wrap forty or fifty gifts.
We have also been very busy the past few weeks. In fact, since our boys’ birthday party in November, we have not had a weekend where there was not at least 2 events running. It’s been a little nuts. I used to say, “It’s better to be busy than bored.” I’m questioning my own wisdom at this point.
The icing on this “seasonal cake of life” is the fact that my children are a bit wild with the excitement. The twins have gotten this way for several years now, but now that the baby is old enough to realize the large lighted tree with packages under it means something special, he is also joining his brothers in crazy-town. Yes, I will look back in a few weeks and laugh about a lot of it, but right now, due to growing exhaustion, I just want to put in ear plugs and lay down somewhere in a dark room.
I really am looking forward to all of different activities and emotions that the next two weeks holds. Yes, I am tired, but that doesn’t excuse me from any behavior that I may exhibit that is less than what I know to be God-honoring. In fact, there’s really no time of year that we have an excuse to act in a way that spreads or shares anything less than the Love of God. If Jesus commands us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves, then that’s what we’re supposed to do. The world in which we live too often puts out the idea that there are legitimate excuses for our behavior, making it “okay” or justified. I don’t buy that. I do understand that certain mental illnesses can make this a very thin line, but those are rare cases, and not just for lazy people who don’t want to put the effort in to being decent human beings.
With all of these excuses passing as reasons, it would be easy to just act like a creep one day when I’m tired, and then say something cliche like “Everyone’s entitled to a bad day every now and then!” Bad days do not a reason for acting like the poo of the earth make. (That is worded that way so that my use of the word “poo” will seem more civilized.) We are supposed to be different. Take one trip to Walmart in the next 3 days, and you’ll see that acting like a demon is NOT different. Unfortunately.
Let’s make an impact by NOT letting the fact that we are worn out be the catalyst that leaves us acting like we have never even heard of Jesus, much less claim to follow Him. In this season where Christians recognize that “the light shines in the darkness” (John 1:5), let us continue to let the same light inside of us “shine before men” (Matthew 5:16) and be a reminder of Who we truly celebrate this time of year. Hang in there...soon you can settle for a long winter’s nap!
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