Extravagant Holiday

When the tinsel is packed and all the pine needles are finally vacuumed, what's left? Are we filled with contentment and joy?

Sadly, many of the holiday gifts were returned as soon as the relatives went home. Some didn’t fit, didn't match, or weren’t appreciated. Parking lots around our malls were filled to the brim in the days after Christmas as much as the days before. Stores even opened two hours early to brace for the post-holiday frenzy. It's as though all the effort and planning and giving wasn’t enough.

We are an unsatisfied people living in a world FULL of STUFF. We ask, "What did you GET?" and "Did you get what you wanted?" And the music fades.

It is a studied fact that Americans have more wealth than much of the world, but we are more miserable and discontent than ever. Suicides and pills, addictions and divorce rates have skyrocketed disporportionately higher here than in other parts of the world that barely have the necessities of life!

So let me ask, did you get what you want? Do you have what you need?

If peace and contentment aren't scratched off your list, and you haven't yet been given a full heart of the riches of God's forgiveness, it's NOT TOO LATE! The great thing is, these gifts don't involve a large debit on your credit card, because they have been fully paid and reserved in heaven for you.

God created a one-size fits all package, wrapped with his care, guaranteed to give rest to your soul and satisfy for all ETERNITY! It is the promise of life eternal; a clean slate, a forgiven heart, a renewed mind and a place at his table forever.

You don't even have to find a parking place or stand in line! Just ask Him. Talk to Him. He's always listening, for the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro over the earth, and his ears are open to our cry.

I was just thinking, wouldn't it be great if instead of rushing through all our holidays like crazed consumers, we could roll them all together into one big celebration and make it last longer? What if it could even affect our daily lives? That would be one extravagant holiday!

Like the Magi you could "get wisdom, with all your getting," and pursue the God who has been pursuing you! Then, look ahead and celebrate a prosperous future that will last forever. Finally, commit to the One who sent his ultimate "valentine" and the greatest love letter ever written—the Bible.

This is so much more than a fleeting or forgetable toast to good health. The Word of God holds hundreds of promises to carry us through whatever we may face, and then on to a glorious future in his presence!

So, Merry Christmas! Happy New Year and  the most extravagant Valentine’s!

You are deeply loved by the One who made you.
Psalm 139

Extravagant Gift

We have stowed all the ornaments and heaved our trees out into the snow. Now we are three weeks past watching the ball drop in Times Square, planning New Year resolutions and toasting to a happy future. Almost overnight it seems the stores were cleared and shelves newly stocked with Valentine’s hearts and candies.

Where does it all go? All the hope and hype melts like candle wax. 

You gotta admit, there’s no time quite like those final weeks of the year when everything around us glitters and points to the BIG day. Kids know—it’s the biggest celebration of the year. It is a festival of lights and a highlight like no other holiday. Christmas is magical.

There’s joyous holiday music, colored lights, wrappings, ornaments and trees. Everywhere we look we see twinkling houses, and bustling shopping malls in that enchanting season of expectation. Billions of cards are mailed, cookies decorated, candles lit, and countless packages are wrapped with care.

Somewhere in the midst of all this activity, lies a story that ignites the hearts of those who know it. We should pause and swell with gratitude because two thousand years ago the birth of a small inconspicuous child changed everything.

He demonstrated the extravagant love of an invisible God and made the Almighty reachable by becoming one of us!

Interestingly, all of this happens precisely at the time of year when the world grows darkest! The sun sets earlier, temperatures plummet, and the nights grow longer. Fireplaces are stoked and blue smoke curls from chimneys as we dig in for the long chill of winter, wondering how long this year?

I wonder how often this is so, when light from above bursts on the scene at our darkest hour. When all seems hopeless, dawn breaks and love is born by the God who created it.

He came down and dwelt among us, and “in him came grace and truth. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” (Jn 1:17-18) His birth was a glorious surprise, but many missed it completely.

Dear God, in all the hustle-bustle of our celebrations and gift-giving, perhaps we have overlooked the greatest gift of all. It is life itself in a relationship you made possible through the offering of your own body on the cross! In Jesus we can approach your throne to receive forgiveness. Father, call us back to remembrance and thanks for your extravagant gift.

Portrait of Expectency

It’s been building for weeks. What is God going to do? What is He saying to me? My heart can become fretful and distracted.

Just before Christmas with my thoughts a jumble of shopping lists and gift ideas, I passed the lake nearby and my eye caught a great blue heron standing in the shallow (and not yet frozen) water by the rocks. He struck a perfect silhouette with his long beak stretched forward. He was ready to pounce, yet standing in perfect stillness against the colors of the lake and sky.

It was such a beautiful sight I turned the car around and stopped, then walked out to a better vantage point to admire him. Wow, what a portrait of expectancy! Oh Lord, I want to stand like that.

Poised and upheld in grace.
Watchful, but trusting.
Perched in readiness, but anxious for nothing.

Yes, Lord, a portrait of expectancy and readiness, but a quiet voice of serenity and wisdom seeped through.

I never did get his picture. As I neared with camera in hand, he spread his great wings and flew along the tree line, apparently intent on fishing in solitude. But I decided in that moment, I want to stand like that—unruffled and resting, knowing the all-sufficient grace. It is enough.

“Come and see the works of the Lord,” the Psalmist declared. “Be still and know that I am God…. I will be exalted in the earth... The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (from Psalm 46)

And again, David wrote in the Desert of Judah [which means praise], "Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you;  your right hand upholds me." (Psalm 63:7-8)