9-day Christmas Reflection:
Day 01 (December 16, 2023)
“He must increase, I must decrease.”
Christmas is about preparation for the coming of the Lord. More than just the preparation that we do in our homes or our workplaces it is about our preparation from within.
How are you preparing for Christmas? For Christ’s birth? Is your heart ready enough to welcome Him and let Him stay there?
For the past months, I’ve been busy looking forward to certain things to unfold, only to realize that I’ve missed the preparations that I needed to do, especially the setting of heart for what is to come. I realized that the Christmas season feels like this, we allow ourselves to be caught up by the busyness, by the many activities or get-togethers that we forget to take time to pause and look within.
John the Baptist’s words, “He must increase, I must decrease,” sums up what it means to have a posture of anticipation and preparation for God’s indwelling in our hearts. A reminder of the things that matter.
This leads me to challenge myself to always be mindful of this, especially in the next nine days. This means to be intentional in increasing the Lord’s presence where I am and to others. And to allow Him to enter within without any distractions and noise by taking time to pause.
Christmas is not about us dressing in the most beautiful get-up, buying gifts in excess, or attending one party to another. It is not about us. It is about increasing God’s presence within and sharing His light with others. It is about allowing Him to enter and, ultimately, to stay in our hearts.
What about you? What are your concrete ways of allowing the Lord to increase in your life?
May you have a meaningful journey to Christmas!
God bless you!!
Journeying beyond,
Deanne
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