It is done. All the preparation, all the shopping, all the wrapping, all the baking the cooking the eating, and the stress.  The one day a year we spend the most time preparing for that seems to go by the fastest in a sea of paper and food.  Now today we begin dealing with the aftermath.  The leftovers, the boxes, new toys all over the house, and for some the bills for all of it.  The next step, removing all of the evidence in our homes from the stockings, to the tree.  Then will come the outdoor lights, unless of course yours stay up all year.  We will spend hours, or even days, removing all the fringe that went with that one day.

The challenge in doing that is to not remove the importance of that one day from our lives.  That one day is more then the sea of paper and food that it seems to fly by through.  It is the day which we celebrate that our Lord chose to become a man.  A life in which we hold a hope and a promise of eternity with Him, because He chose to come, then later die for us.  Remembering that fact with traditions rather then fringe at Christmas is important, yet we must also continue to remember that once the fringe is removed.  Once we take down the tree and the stockings, once the bows are gone, and the wrapping is thrown away, we must continue to put first that which the Lord has asked of us.

So my challenge, and the challenge for you as well, is to continue living each day focused on that which the Lord has asked of me.  Christmas or not there is going to be fringe in our lives that distracts us from doing that, it just comes in different colors, shapes, sizes, names, and places.  Let’s not allow the fact that we are removing the fringe from our homes, and the fact that Christmas is over, to give any of us a reason to remove Christ as the focus of our lives or our families.  Let us be determined to allow Him to mold us on His anvil as we desire to become more like Him.

1 Comment

1. 

   The fringe is still up here! And it will remain up until I feel good and ready to take it down. Maybe I’ll leave it up until we sell the house!

   Comment by Lisa Mongold — January 4, 2010 @ 4:56 pm

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