I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Actually, I hope everyone had a phenomenal Christmas unlike any before it. How was your Christmas, though? If I had to pick one word to summarize mine, it’d have to be “busy.” Yes, I had a busy Christmas, and that Christmas could’ve been better. It wasn’t bad, but the fact that it could have been better is my fault. Let me tell you why.

The root of the busy Christmas

What causes a busy Christmas is a heart in chaos. What brings forth disorder in the world is disorder within. And disheveled, out of touch with myself was how I began this season. Tired, weary, overdrawn, and unkempt is how I would describe myself the week before Thanksgiving. The holiday season never helps such a person, and it was no different for me. To boil it down, I hadn’t been prioritizing my time with God. I was tired, so I wouldn’t get up as early as I needed, thus things got cut out of the morning routine, and the first to go was the time where God’s word centers me before the winds of care blow me to and fro the rest of the day. And a dry well without rain can merely stay dry.

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! — Psalm 117

The cure for the busy Christmas

I read this Psalm this morning and it caught me off guard. It’s so…short! The entire Psalm is but two verses, four sentences. But, the words that are there say everything. Within them are the crux of Christmas. They are the peace amidst a busy Christmas. They are life. This should be our lifesong. This should be the light we shine into the world. Praise the Lord! Do you know how much He loves you? Do you know He’s always loved you and always will love you? If you’re anything like me, though, friend I’ll bet you don’t. I’ll bet you have no clue. If you or I did, I promise it would completely wreck our current worldviews. It would forever change our lives. It would forever change the lives of those around us.

For many, the holiday season crescendos at a busy Christmas. For many, especially myself, it’s a frenzied marathon highlighted by the sprint into Christmas Day. Where is there rest? Where is there life and joy? It is found in understanding and embracing the love and faithfulness of our God. It’s realizing that love and faithfulness was embodied on Christmas Day in the birth of Jesus. It’s knowing in the deepest crevices of our hearts that it is still embodied today by our King and Savior. It’s living the resultant praise of a joyful and grateful heart that truly grasps the gift we were given two millennia ago, and everyday since.