Back To Nornal

This evening I have taken down my Christmas tree and all of the beautiful decorations.  They have been packed away into boxes and stored away until next year.

 

I always feel sad taking down Christmas decorations.  I love putting them up every year and then I get used to them: they brighten up the room and they brighten up dull, December days.  They become a part of the decor.  They become familiar.

 

I don't like the gaps and spaces and expanses that are left when the tree has been taken down and all of the shiny, shimmering decorations have disappeared.  But even more, I dislike the fact that I soon become used to my flat sans decorations again.  Everything seems 'back to normal' and it's almost as if Christmas never happened. 

 

Whilst I've packed away my decorations, I don't want to pack away the meaning of Christmas and the message of God coming to earth to dwell with mankind.

 

Whilst he's not writing about Christmas decorations, I think James' advice to his readers about remembering what we learn about God is relevant.  James encourages his readers to make an effort to remember what they have learnt, rather than learning something and instantly forgetting it, in the same way that we can look at our reflections in a mirror for a moment and then forget what we look like.  Or, in this instance, in the same way that we can pack away our Christmas decorations and forget that it was ever Christmas at all.

 

"But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."
 

[James 1:22-24 NLT]

 

 

Whilst the decorations are tidied away until next year, I want to keep the real message of Christmas - the truth of Immanuel: God with us - unwrapped and unpacked and open in my heart and my life.  Until next year.

 

 

 

First Footing

There is a Scottish/Northern English New Year's tradition called 'First Footing' which we take part in every year.

The first foot across the threshold in the New Year must bring several gifts, all of which symbolise good things for the year to come: money (financial security), bread (food for the year), coal (heating and warmth), salt (flavour) and alcohol (good cheer).

It's a lovely symbol and makes us stop and think for a short while about what we allow into our homes - on this first day of the year, and throughout the year to come.

It made me think about what I allow into my heart and my mind too. Do I just accept anything that wanders in, or do I think about my thoughts and only allow those things in which will bring health and wellbeing?

It's easy to get caught up in negative and destructive thought patterns, but the Bible advises,

"I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse."

[Philippians 4:8 MSG]

These are good things to fill my mind with, both on the first day of this new year and for the rest of the year.

Perhaps I need to give myself a mental 'First-Footing' and decide what thoughts I want to allow into my mind for the year to come.

This Time Next Year

I read a really interesting article today: it imagined that it was the end of 2013 and reflected on what had happened over the past year.

 

It made me think about what might happen to me and for me in 2013 and what I'll be thinking or feeling this time next year.

 

So often, we have a tendency to drift through life, without really paying attention to what's happening.  We keep our heads down for the most part and only raise them at significant moments - birthdays, Easter, Christmas, holidays - and when we raise them and look around us, we are astonished at how quickly the time has passed. 

 

Sometimes we can feel as though we haven't really achieved anything or moved forwards in any way.  Time drifts past and we remain unaltered.

 

But if we want to look back this time next year and feel that things have changed - that we have changed - we need to be intentional about it.  We need to look around us and take stock of things and decide what we want to happen in the next year.

 

Obviously not everything is in our control, but often a lot more is in our control than we realise.  Sometimes it is nicer and safer to assume that nothing is in our control - we don't have to feel responsible when things don't go our way.

 

The best thing is to take some time to honestly assess where we are right now and to spend some time thinking and praying through where we hope to be this time next year.  For although we can plan where we'd like to be, God's plans are not always the same as ours.

 

        "'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord.

        'And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

        For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

        so my ways are higher than your ways

        and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'"

 

        [Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT]

 

 

No matter what we can plan or imagine for the year to come, God's plans will always surpass ours.  His plans are bigger than ours.  Unimaginable.