THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN, ARE YOU READY???

     So I was sitting at my desk this morning wondering why everybody was stressing about the coming of Christmas. I said to myself, "This is just the first of December. Why is everybody so stressed out?" A few minutes later as I was planning some events for the first of the year I realized Christmas is a week away. I have to admit I started stressing a little. After all I haven't even asked my wife if we are done with our Christmas shopping yet. Then I remembered how she always lets me know when we are done shopping.  She lets out a big sigh of relief and starts to tell me what we

bought for who so I am not totally surprised when they open it. This usually comes right before she tells me we cannot go grocery shopping until January. So since there has been no grocery store ban I guess we are not done yet. So I assume that means another dreadful trip to Hickory to spend two hours at each store hunting an empty parking place. Then another four hours at each store trying to navigate around the store to get to what you are wanting. Followed by three hours at each store of standing in line to pay for your items. When you add all those hours up it becomes a lot of hours to cram into one afternoon. I thank I have already shopped until I dropped and we haven't even left yet.
     Why is it so stressful trying to finish everything up at Christmas. We have a 365 day warning that it is coming. I have already seen a 2016 calendar and it is marked on there so we know when it's coming. In fact, it is the same date each year, December 25. So why do we spend the last few days before Christmas stressing out about finishing our shopping list, cooking for all the places we have to go, and trying to find time to go see lights, plays or whatever we wanted to look at?
     What baffles me more is the week after Christmas. All the stress is over but everybody talks about how sad they are Christmas is over. Even though most people at some point say before Christmas, "I can't wait until Christmas is over." They talk about how depressing it is seeing all the decorations come down and how they wished they had done this or that. Even though adding this or that would have added more stress trying to find the time for this or that. Then almost at once everybody in the world says, "I will not wait until last minute next year." But they will.
     That brings me to the most magical day of the year, January 1. I find it amazing how a person who couldn't find time to go to the gym or never got around to saving money or couldn't kick a bad habit can decide that since it is New Year's Day they can make a resolution and keep it. It is almost as if

they think because they made it their New Year's it will automatically happen. Then two weeks later they don't understand why their resolution didn't work. Just because the year changed didn't mean you did. It will take just as much effort to accomplish those things in the new year as it did in the old one. So if you were unwilling to make that effort then you will need to change, not the year, in order for the resolution to stick. Several years ago I did make a New Year's resolution that I was able to keep all year long. I made a resolution not to make any New Year's resolutions. I am proud to say I make the same resolution every year and I keep it every year.
     What I have been pondering on this morning after my discovery of how fast Christmas is approaching is this: If we put so much time and effort into getting ready for an event that we know when it is going to happen (Christmas) why are we not putting in as much if not more effort into getting ready for an event that we have no idea when it is going to happen? I am talking about the return of Christ. Even though Christmas is only a week away there is no guarantee we will be around for it. He may return on December 23. Don't quote me on that because I don't know and I definitely am not predicting it or even going to take a guess as to when it will happen. I just know it is going to happen because the scriptures tell us it is going to happen.
     My second pondering thought is this: Why do we put so much trust that something (New Years) is going to change us when it has no way of changing us? Why not trust something that can change us? Again the answer is Christ. We will not be new creations just because the calendar turns to 2016 but we can be a new creation in Christ anytime we allow Him to change us. The scriptures tell us that is possible and encourages it.
     So here is what I am proposing based on my two pondering thoughts. Why not allow Christ to
change us so that we are more worried about getting ready for His return then we are worried about if we should get our third cousin's ex-wife's sister's kid's neighbor a gift or not. We should allow Christ to change our heart so that we are worried if our third cousin's ex-wife's sister's kid's neighbor knows Christ as their Lord and Savior and if not how can we share Christ with them. After all we know every year that Christmas will be the 359th day of the year but we never know what day Christ will come. If we don't get our third cousin's ex-wife's sister's kid's neighbor a gift even though they get us a $5.00 gift card to the Dollar Tree they will be fine. If we don't share Christ with our third cousin's ex-wife's sister's kid's neighbor and Christ returns they will not be fine spending an eternity in hell. Now which one seems more stressful?



Parting Thought: The greatest Christmas gift ever was not wrapped in wrapping paper and placed under a tree but in swaddling clothes placed in a manager.