Christmas Is Over. Now What?

Well, another Christmas has come and passed. The excitement and the joy of the season is gone. We’ve shopped, we’ve partied, we’ve sung all the songs, and then we all opened our presents. We gathered at the table and shared great meals and good family fellowship. Most of us even went to church at some point in the celebration we call Christmas, even some who only attend at times like these and maybe did so only out of the desire to honor mom or grandma.

 

It’s over now. The question that each of us must answer now is this; What do we do now? How do we ride out the rest of the winter?

 

The Bible tells more than the story of the baby Jesus being born in a manger. Though we often place the story of the wise men visiting Jesus with His actual birth, they really do not arrive until later. Take a look.

 

Matthew 2:1-2
 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

 

The magi arrived from the east in Jerusalem after Jesus was born. Their story is an interesting one, for in it, is embedded a question we all must ask ourselves. What were, or maybe even now, what are we looking for when we follow the call to go to Jesus? Matthew tells us that the magi saw His star in the east and they went to worship Him. Can we say the same?

 

When I look back at what led me to Christ, I remember it was desperation. My life had become filled with worries and troubles that I just couldn’t find the answers to. Depression set into my core and led me to the point of hopelessness. It’s not that I no longer wanted to live, I did, I just couldn’t live without hope. We come to saving faith in Christ in many, different ways. Some people are blessed to be raised in church and simply receive Christ at some point in their youth, responding to the preparation of the soils of their hearts, as God used the witness of others. Others fall deeply into sins, sins that often lead to horrible addictions. Some live in perpetual pain or sickness. We all have a story. Mine is one of desperation.

 

Sometimes God does great miracles of deliverance, and people come to faith having been delivered of their sin, be they drugs, alcohol, or any of the other addictions. Some were healed from a sickness that offered no hope. But that just isn’t always the case. God does not always remove the pain of life and give us everything we long for.

 

The truth of the Christmas story is this; God sent Jesus to save us from our sins, so that like the wise men, we would begin a journey that culminates in us fallen before Him and simply worshipping Him.

 

Jesus has come. What will you do now? How will we live out the rest of this winter?

 

I offer that the answer is that we stop looking for things from Him and go on a journey to find Jesus. You don’t have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles. You only need to fall to your knees. You only need to lift your hands. You only need to stop running and simply go to Him in prayer. You simply worship Him.

 

As to your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs? Jesus has those. Worship Him by doing what He says, and He will handle them. I leave you today with His command as to what we are to do the day after Christmas.

 

Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.