It’s Christmas Eve! I can’t believe how time flew. We all say that though, don’t we? It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of holiday preparations that we lose track of time. Suddenly, it’s here. Christmas Eve. Christmas Day. A new year.
This morning I received a FutureMe.org email I wrote a year ago, on Christmas Eve. I was at Starbucks, giving myself a time out. I’m here again for another time out. I think it’s the beginning of a new tradition! Another new thing I’m doing this year is a 12 Days of Christmas Countdown Calendar.
The 12 Days of Christmas – as I just learned – begins on Christmas Day and ends on January 5, the eve of Epiphany, celebrated on January 6. These 12 days commemorates the birth of Christ on the 25th and the coming of the magi on the 6th.
My church doesn’t follow a liturgical calendar so the history of the 12 Days of Christmas has been lost to me. With so many Advent calendars out there that has nothing to do with Advent, I started looking things up. I love Christmas and I’m all for extending its celebration!
But like I said, I’m in Starbucks giving myself a time out. After Christmas, most of us just plop down in exhaustion. I remember when Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27, NIV).
Basically, Pharisees got mad at Jesus for healing aka working on the Sabbath, which is a no-no. Jesus countered that – in my own words here – a day of rest was created for us so we can remember to rest and focus on God. We were not created for a day of rest so we can work at not working.
It’s okay to lift some fingers on the day of rest if it honors God, like how Jesus’ healing works honors God. It’s not okay to place a burden on other people by telling them to make sure they do no work.
Celebrating Advent and the 12 Days of Christmas should be reminders for us to rest and focus on God. If they become burdens on our shoulders, we’re missing the point.
Tomorrow, I’m counting the 12 Days of Christmas by using a countdown calendar I made earlier this month.
This is easy to make for your family, although, with Christmas tomorrow, maybe pin this for next year! I’m single, though, so I made this for myself. Here’s how:
- Buy 12 small gifts you want. I went to the Dollar Store and Target’s Dollar Spot.
- Place the gifts in brown bags and mix them up. This way, you get a surprise even though you know what you’ll be getting.
- Pick 12 Bible verses to reflect on. I picked verses that speak on waiting, the coming of Jesus, new beginnings, and promises of God for our future. To pick verses on a specific topic, just Google: “Bible verses on [topic].”
- Write one Bible verse on a card stock. Mix up the card stocks.
- Flip the card stocks over so you can’t see the Bible verses. Write 1-12 on them.
- Attach the card stocks with the numbers facing out on the paper bags.
- Hang the bags, display them, etc. Open a bag a day starting on Christmas. I suggest doing the devotional first.
You can use Christmas stockings. Hang them by the fireplace or display them on a mantel. Mine’s hanging on a wall in my bedroom because my quiet place is in my bedroom.
With a little bit more planning, you can match Bible verse and gifts. You can also buy small pieces of chocolates that you can enjoy while reflecting on the Bible verse. You can pick Bible verses that match your One Word for this year and the next.
The idea and my goal is to make sure I take the time to focus on God. The gifts seem like a bribe and we shouldn’t need an incentive to spend time with God, but I’m fighting my own human nature here.
It’s like the Sabbath. I don’t need the burden to be pious on its own. I know how the holidays can whisk my time away. And don’t tell me that if I really love God, it wouldn’t be a burden. That if I’m really a Christian, it would come naturally.
If the simple work of opening a tiny gift forces me to slow down, read a Bible verse, and spend time with God, I’m going to do it. It was the man who stood up to be healed that experienced Jesus’ power. It was the disciples who picked up the grains from the ground that spent time with Jesus.
This Christmas, may you experience the love of God, His power, and His rest. May you find the time to reflect and ponder on His goodness. May the worries fall away, and may you have the most wonderful Christmas. Merry Christmas!
