Halloween isn’t even good and buried in the ground and already Christmas decorations are invading the entire landscape. Without even a thought to consider Thanksgiving, many of us have jumped straight into the holiday season. Attics are being entered for the fist time in eleven months and what is brought out is a winter wonderland in spite of the 80 degree temps we still seem to be having outside. Along with all the trees going up are questions by many who wonder out loud why does Christmas seem to get here so much sooner each year? While I’m sure the real answer lies in the dollars & cents behind it all, I like to think that what it desires most this time of year is what it feels is missing the remainder of it. That feeling of love & hope so closely connected to the holiday season.
In Philippians 4 Paul tells us to always rejoice in the Lord. He doesn’t say rejoice at the end of the year or when things are going your way. Rejoice! When? Rejoice always! Everyday the very same World that tries to move up the calendar and make Christmas happen earlier and earlier, also does it’s best to destroy and ruin and end any hope of a better tomorrow. Yet even as the days grow darker as evil spreads around us, as Christians we are to rejoice! Rejoice not in what did or didn’t happen today or in what holiday is just around the corners, but in the sacrifice that was made on that cross in Calvary and the promise of what a life lived in worship of God will bring to those that persevere.
