Lord God,
I want You to have first place in my Christmas.
In the Old Testament, You told Your people to celebrate important days. This is the time of year our world has chosen to celebrate Your coming as a man to this earth. So it can be appropriate that we celebrate with decoration and feasting.
Yet we need those decorations and feasts to focus on You, not on us.
As I decorate the house, let each decoration draw my heart to You. Some of them were given by special people, so use them as a reminder to pray for them. Some are just pretty things that were collected over the years. Let me use them as triggers to worship You for what You have done, both in the grace-filled miracle of Your birth and the grace-filled days of our lives. Let them be a means for focusing my heart on You.
As I think about the activities of this season, please set my priorities on You. Let me say "no" if they will draw my heart away from You. In our busy lives, a "yes" usually means that we are saying "no" to something else. Help me to be aware of what will go neglected as I add activities to the calendar. If it's something more important, help me to say "no" even if it's hard to do so.
Lord, let my entire celebration of Christmas point others to You. Let it be obvious what we Christians are celebrating. What wonderful opportunities we have to speak of the difference You have made in our lives. Open my mouth to share Your truths with others throughout this season. Let me be filled with Your joy and Your peace so that as I speak, others will want to listen.
In the name of the One who was born to die, I pray,
Amen.
Photo: This ornament was made for me many years ago by a friend. When I dig it out each year, I pray for her and her family. I also thank God that He sent Jesus to die for my sins.
I want You to have first place in my Christmas.
In the Old Testament, You told Your people to celebrate important days. This is the time of year our world has chosen to celebrate Your coming as a man to this earth. So it can be appropriate that we celebrate with decoration and feasting.
As I decorate the house, let each decoration draw my heart to You. Some of them were given by special people, so use them as a reminder to pray for them. Some are just pretty things that were collected over the years. Let me use them as triggers to worship You for what You have done, both in the grace-filled miracle of Your birth and the grace-filled days of our lives. Let them be a means for focusing my heart on You.
As I think about the activities of this season, please set my priorities on You. Let me say "no" if they will draw my heart away from You. In our busy lives, a "yes" usually means that we are saying "no" to something else. Help me to be aware of what will go neglected as I add activities to the calendar. If it's something more important, help me to say "no" even if it's hard to do so.
Lord, let my entire celebration of Christmas point others to You. Let it be obvious what we Christians are celebrating. What wonderful opportunities we have to speak of the difference You have made in our lives. Open my mouth to share Your truths with others throughout this season. Let me be filled with Your joy and Your peace so that as I speak, others will want to listen.
In the name of the One who was born to die, I pray,
Amen.
Photo: This ornament was made for me many years ago by a friend. When I dig it out each year, I pray for her and her family. I also thank God that He sent Jesus to die for my sins.
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