Time for Boxing
Christmas Day was special for us at Epiphany Ranch, and then the day after, the 26th, after a yummy brisket lunch, we headed home to celebrate Christmas with our Canadian family members who have been here celebrating our American holiday traditions.
Them being here reminds me of Canada’s statutory holiday on December 26th called Boxing Day. It is not only a day for Santas everywhere to catch their breath, but it is a day for clean-up of all those empty gift boxes from the day before.
Its British origin is traced back to 1833 when lords of manors and aristocrats distributed “Christmas boxes” filled with gifts, money, and leftovers from Christmas dinner to their household servants and employees. They had been required to work on December 25th and were recognized for their good service throughout the year.
Our Boxing Day, yesterday, was when we boxed up our treasures and placed them in our car for our ride home from East Texas. I would be remiss to end this blog with Boxing Day “talk”, because while we’ll soon be boxing away our Christmas decorations that include the manger scenes and Holy Family figurines — we will never be able to box away God’s great love for us.
For some, seeing Jesus as a baby in a manger and “boxing” Him away for another year is as close as they want to get to Him. Perhaps the grown-up Jesus seems too far removed from their everyday life.
But, if we keep Jesus at arm’s length, we’ll never get to know and love Him for Who He truly is. If we want to move faith from our heads to our hearts, we must fall in love with the REAL — alive and well — Jesus.
To fall in love with Jesus, it must be more than a once-a-year celebration. It must be a love affair that exists every day! That kind of love takes time and persistence, just like any good relationship. Jesus invites us to abide in His love — rest, stay, tarry — not rush past it. In John 15:9, He said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”
There are far more reasons to love Jesus, but let’s start by making a gratitude list for our Lord:
He is God with us
He is Love
He is Truth
He is the way
He is a miracle worker
He is the light of the world
He makes all things new
He is our Healer
He knows our name
He keeps His promises
He is faithful
He is good
He is our Prince of Peace
He is our Savior and Lord
He will never forsake us
How do we get to that kind of love and then give it back to Him? For us to experience that love, we need to really know Him. As we stand at the door of a new year, won’t you join me in seeking to know and love Him more? That’s my Priority #1 for the new year!
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God”. (Ephesians 3:17-19)