Stop!
Not so fast, Christmas!
The quiet of the morning calls me to read one more devotional and savor a little more coffee. We find ourselves finishing up our Christmas traditions in preparation for Christmas Eve and Day.
I find myself looking into my new January calendar, entering dates for
The New Year.
But wait — I want Christmas to linger.
This peaceful watching and waiting and writing (and re-writing) have done what Advent is supposed to do.
Slow me down.
And when I go on “Advent time” it suddenly fills me with quiet joy and wonder. I want this time to stand still and
just behold this wonder…this experience of quiet waiting. And I must ask myself if I can enter
this home stretch to Christmas Day quietly and just be in Advent - one
with God.
One with Jesus.
Maybe it is why we love the sheep so much in the Nativity.
They don't have a speaking or acting role. They just come, watch and wait for
their shepherd to guide them, feed them and care for them. When I was young I got
to hold a baby lamb in my arms and feed it from a bottle. The mother had
rejected the lamb and it would have died had my father not known what to do. My
sister and I got to care for that helpless lamb and it grew and became a pet
that we nurtured and cared for and loved with all our hearts. Hearts that broke
when "Lamby" grew up and left us.
Could it be that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, thinks of us as his pet?
Has He nurtured us this Advent as we have waited and watched for his coming?
Dependent?
Helpless?
Needy?
Has he cared for and loved us with his
heart so much that he has entered into our own hearts and we are one?
If we can answer
"yes" then we have the greatest gift of Christmas.
As a child I learned a simple song:
Into My Heart,
Into My Heart, Come into my heart Lord Jesus.
Come in today,
Come in to stay, Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
Faithful Shepherd,
You watch over me
and you stay by my side.
I have everything
I need. Slow me down and linger in my heart.
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