Too Much Tinsel on the Nativity
The holy family traveled with no fanfare to Bethlehem. Nothing about them stood out to say a king was about to be born. Israel was in turmoil because of the census and everyone’s attention was on how to appease the Romans. Very few were thinking about God.
In a land far away wise men were listening to prophetic voices by following the signs in the heavens. Their attention was on finding the King of Israel. They took the focus off themselves and followed a star on a long journey despite the hardships and dangers they encountered. The entire journey was about the infant King.
How do we follow their example and avoid the hype of holidays and focus on the hero of Christmas?
We can examine the motives for our celebratory schedule. Are our decorations to impress the neighbors? After hours of standing on ladders in cold weather and untangling light strands that don’t work…
…we are stressed out, angry, and tired.
We fight for space in parking lots and stand in lines for the best sale items and at the end of the day…
…we are stressed out, angry, and tired.
We spend hours in the kitchen hoping for perfect cakes, cookies, turkey, and rolls but if something is burned or under cooked…
…we are stressed out, angry, and tired.
We can become like those during the Roman census when we focus on our own agenda while God stands in the background trying to tell us the King has been born.
We don’t have to eliminate everything we do as holiday traditions, but we can make some changes to
Be Sure to Focus On Jesus
- Read the Christmas story from a different translation each day in December to get a new perspective.
- Visit a hospital or nursing home and deliver cards bearing the message of Christ. If financially feasible, include a small Bible or gospel tract.
- Encourage children to use money they have earned for a Salvation Army kettle. Use the opportunity to teach them about the needs of others and how we can show the love of Christ.
- Limit the amount we spend on our usual gift list for friends and family and use the money saved to buy gifts for those less fortunate.
- Instead of the typical holiday party, invite friends to a birthday party. Rather than exchanging gifts, request they bring a small donation to be given to a charity of your choice. Celebrate with birthday hats and party favors ending the evening with a birthday cake and song for Jesus.
We can eliminate stress during the holidays if we keep the tinsel from hiding the Nativity scene and let the simplicity of the birthday remain our only reason for celebrating. After all, He is the Prince of peace and when our focus is on Him instead of holiday hype we won’t be stressed out, angry, or tired.
How can, or does your family focus on Jesus during the Christmas season?
I hope you will join the conversation so we can encourage one another to Treasure the Quiet Moments.
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Barbara Latta is a free-lance writer whose passion is to share how the grace of God can free us from the rules of religious tradition. Her articles, devotions, and poems have been published in several newspapers, magazines, and websites and she currently writes a monthly column for the Pike Journal-Reporter in Zebulon, Georgia. She is a board member of the East Metro Atlanta Christian Writers. She enjoys riding motorcycles with her Harley husband and their biker travels are the inspiration for her blog, Navigating Life’s Curves at www.barbaralatta.blogspot.com.
Images courtesy of www.Morguefile.com
Enjoy Christmas Music from Downton Abbey or a children’s nativity play set:
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These are wonderful ideas, Barbara!
When my girls were growing up, we tried to focus on the giving spirit of Christmas. God gave us Jesus and we were to give to those around us. We took toys to collection points for needy kids. They loved the Salvation Army kettles and they both put some in every time we passed by. We had a nativity scene and we went through the story many times, often with dinosaurs in attendance. Christmas was and still is a joyous celebration of Jesus’ birth.
A big thank you to Barbara for being my guest today. And a good reminder that the glitter and tinsel of Christmas should never overshadow the nativity miracle from God.
Thanks, Jeanne, for sharing your site with other writers. And thank you Sherry for your comment. I love the idea of putting the dinosaurs in with the nativity scene!
Thank you, Barbara…and thank you for being my guest. Tinsel is a funny thing in our family. We don’t use it anymore (does anyone?) but back when my kids were small, we did. John grew up taking handfuls of the stuff and throwing it at the tree (there were four boys) and in my family we counted out three strands for each branch. It made for some funny moments
Thanks Sherry. What a wonderful way to make the season bright as we raise our children to put God’s Messiah first.