On Decorating for Christmas

Today, I helped my mother decorate the house for Christmas. She's still recovering from some recent health issues, so she couldn't really do it herself. Thankfully, I was able to come home for a couple of days to spend some time with my folks, so I was able to help my mom with decorating.

Like most people, we keep our Christmas stuff up in the attic for 11 months out of the year. So, this afternoon involved several trips up and down the attic ladder, getting down boxes of bows, wreaths, garland, and other Christmas decor. We got a good bit of it put up, including getting the Christmas tree up and lit (still haven't hung any ornaments as of right now, but that will come soon enough).

As I was going back and forth from the attic and the living room, I caught myself wondering how much easier it would be if we left the stuff out all year long. It sure would cut down on a lot of time and effort every December! I mean after all, shouldn't we be celebrating Jesus' birth all the time? So why not leave the decorations out instead of keeping them boxed up in an attic all year long?

Then it hit me: we do the same thing with our faith. If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that most of the time, our faith is not on display for the world to see. We live our "normal" lives throughout the week, and then we put on our Jesus decorations on Sunday when we head to church. Once Sunday services are over, we put Jesus back in the box and store him away until next Sunday rolls around. Then, we pull Jesus back out, dust him off a bit, and show him off for everyone to see so that they can talk about how awesome our Jesus looks.

Jesus is not a seasonal decoration. He is not a temporary ornament on our lives. Jesus should constantly be present in what we say and do. He should always be evident. We should treat every single day like it's a day of the Lord.

Scripture reminds us to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ, making no provision for earthly lusts." I believe Paul meant that this should be an everyday occurrence, not just something we do once a week.

So, leave those decorations out a little longer this year. Or, if you're one of those hardcore Christmas people, then I guess you can put them back in the attic right after Christmas.

Just don't do the same thing with your faith.