It’s finally here, right around the corner! Presents are wrapped, food is prepared, family is in, and everyone is bursting with excitement!
…At least, in an ideal world. If you’re like me, that’s not the case. I may have finished wrapping my presents (at almost midnight last night), but because our big celebration is on Christmas Eve, I still have a bunch of dishes I have to make for tonight.
And that’s after I’ve skipped most of my “have to’s”.
The “Have To’s” of Christmas
We all have them: I have to run to the store to get candy. I have to go to the mall and get a last minute present. I have to stay up late and bake cookies…
Why? Because we tell ourselves it won’t be Christmas without those things.
But I’m here to tell you it will be, dear one, it will be.
The Real Reason for Christmas: Not “Having To”
Christ came to bring “good news of great joy” – that good news was that we don’t have to. We don’t have to be perfect –for Christ was perfect for us. We don’t have to have our lives all together – for Christ delights in putting all the pieces together for us. We don’t have to live in fear and doubt – for Christ is our assurance.
My Christmas Eve prayer for you is that you will have a joy-filled Christmas, and that you skip the “have to’s”. There are some things you must do, but many of the things can be let go of; only you know the difference.
Instead, I pray you rest in the good news of Christ. For he has completed our “have to’s”…
