Saying
Good-Bye to November
“I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4
I glanced at the calendar this week and was shocked to
see we were at the end of November. My mind skipped back over this year;
Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving were all
past. Now I was facing “December”! It had been such a busy year that the thought
of Christmas was looming up in front of me.
What was I to do? My mind quickly
went to gifts for my immediate family; my extended family and friends and on
and on and on.
December stood before me like a giant Santa Claus
waiting for me to fill his bag. I tried
to write a list of everyone I had bought gifts for last year and then tried to
think of what I could get each one this year.
It gave me a brain freeze to the point I couldn’t think of a single
thing for any of them.
“Calm down”, I told myself, “It isn’t quite December 1st
yet and then I have 25 days left.” I put
down my pen and paper and walked away from my desk. However, I just couldn’t get it out of my
mind. I sat down in my favorite chair to
mull this over in my mind. Why wasn’t I
like some people I know; they shopped all year and were now ready for the big
25th. I realized I was actually
feeling anxious.
Then a scripture came to mind, “I sought the Lord and
He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” Yes, it said ‘all my fears’. That means anything that causes you to be anxious,
God will set your mind at ease and calm your fears.
I chuckled to myself that I would get upset over the
thought of Christmas, although it would have been nice for November to have
held on a little longer. The more I
thought about it, the foolisher I felt. [I don’t think ‘foolisher is a word] I
have trusted God for everything in my life including many big things and he has
never disappointed me. I also thought about
a verse in Philippians 4:6, where it says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
to God.”
That did it; what I really should be thinking about is
that Jesus, God’s only Son, came to earth for me and all of you so we might
have eternal life. Since when has buying
gifts and giving parties and every other thing we celebrate become the most
important thing about Christmas? First
of all the stores were filled with everything ‘Christmas’ before
Thanksgiving. Before Thanksgiving so many
were getting ready for ‘Black Friday’.
People hurried to get Thanksgiving over so they could go shopping.
Another thing was instead of waiting for ‘Black
Friday’, several stores opened on Thanksgiving so they could rob us of enjoying
it and giving thanks to God for what He has given us all year. What a ploy Satan has put before us. I looked up the full meaning of ‘ploy’: “A
cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage.” Satan will use whatever he can to get our mind off the most important event
in all of history, Jesus Christ was born to save us from our sins!
Well, I for one, have
decided I’m not buying it; Jesus is the
only Reason for this Season and I’m planning on spending it to talk about Him,
share with others about Him and let my love of God shine before all my friends
and family. Oh, yes, Satan will be
madder than all get-out, but that’s alright because the Lord goes before me and
he’s my rear guard.
I’m playing Christmas
music all day; when I have time, I’ll think about gifts. I already bought subscriptions to Guideposts
magazines for most of my family members.
This is not a commercial, but this gift shows them Jesus for each month
of the year. I pray that God will use it
to encourage them to walk closer with Him.
I am actually looking forward to sending Christmas cards this year. I had to ask the Lord to forgive me for not
putting Him first and thank Him for all he has done for me and especially for
His Salvation.
Good-bye November and
welcome December! Turn up the music,
give God the glory and go into December with a heart filled with Joy. Jesus was born; let’s celebrate!
“Then the angel said to her, "Do not
be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall
call His name JESUS.”
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