The subject line on the email said, “Hurry! Act fast to get free shipping.” Others have said “Flash sale,” “Act ASAP,” and “Don’t Miss This.”
I bet your email and messages are similar to mine this time of year. Everything is hurry, hurry, hurry. Retailers are trying to boost their bottom line by creating a sense of urgency and panic for you. They want to make you think you are going to miss out on something.
I recently signed my family up for an upcoming hot chocolate tasting without giving it much thought because seating was limited and filling up fast. I should know better because all seating is limited by the number of chairs – even if it’s a 100,000-seat stadium. That language puts urgency on the situation. I am content with my decision in this case, and we are looking forward to it. However, I let myself be pressured by the need to hustle.
The entire Christmas season can feel that way if we’re not careful. It’s not always about “hurrying.” Sometimes it’s just the pressure to tick all the boxes for every holiday tradition we’ve heard someone enjoyed. Matching pajamas, that light display, gingerbread houses, those two parties, make the candy our grandmothers made, and watch all 25 days of Christmas movies and classics. And don’t forget to move that silly elf every night.
Friend, I’m giving you permission to slow down, to take a pass on some activities, and enjoy the Christmas season at your pace. If you don’t enjoy it or it’s making you too busy to find time for the things that matter most, then skip it. It’s okay.
I’m not going get wordy today. You’ve got enough to do. But I do want to remind you that slowing down to prepare for Jesus’ coming and taking the time you need to celebrate what that means to you is holy time.
I want to leave you with this today. In Luke’s version of the birth of Christ, the one we most often refer to, he points out that Mary (Luke 2:19) treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. She listened to what the shepherds had to say regarding Jesus. She valued those words. She took time to think about what was happening and what it all meant to and for her.
Life as we know it is short and changes often. I don’t know what your Christmas past or Christmas yet to come will look like, but I want to encourage you to treasure your Christmas present and ponder it in your heart. Treasure up the people, the sights, the sounds, the smells, and the words, and ponder them in your heart this season. It’s not too late. You can slow down in these final days to treasure the moments instead of rushing from one thing to the next.
How do you fit in with the story of this Christmas? How do you fit in the story of Christ? Have you seen Jesus? Are you making room for Him? Have you heard or told the good news? Have you made the time to treasure what matters? Let’s not spend so much time trying to hurry and check off all the Christmas boxes that we don’t have time to treasure what matters.
I pray that you have a season full of treasured moments that remind you of the good news of great joy that was and is for all people. Jesus Christ is born.
Merry Christmas, friends. May it be peaceful and blessed.
Photo by Nick Fewings/Unsplash
