The Christmas Closet

Dear Church Family,

 

We have designated a closet as the Christmas Closet in our house.  That is right.  All the Christmas decorations, and all the red/green beauty of Christmas is stored in THAT closet.  We were so proud this year, to go to the Christmas closet, and find neatly stored items that put us in the Christmas season.  We were able to take everything out, put it in its place, and “wall-lah”  (is that a word?), we had Christmas.  Because of our neatly organized Christmas closet, we were able to decorate our home for Christmas and make the most of the holiday season.

 

The other day, I drifted by the Christmas closet, and as I peaked inside, I noticed that the Christmas closet was NOT neatly packed.  In the hustle to get things undone after Christmas, some the of the Christmas cheer had been “stuffed” into the closet.  So, being the good husband that I am, I, I, uh, I…closed the door.  Problem solved until December 2020.  I must confess, that the plan I had for the Christmas closet (closing the door) will come back to haunt me in 11 months, when we do it all again.  AArrgghh!!

 

I wonder if that activity of “closing the door” on a mess is a metaphor for our lives.  I wonder if we know we have messes in our lives, and instead of sorting through the mess, and put things in order, we simply “close the door” hoping it will go away.  In the eyes of Jesus, that is not a good plan.

 

He is so filled with grace, that he wants to go into the hall closet of our heart, and painstakingly take out all the mess in our secret places, and throw away the things that need to be dealt with (forgiveness, bad habits, lack of faith, worry….______________) and then neatly place the valuables back in the closet.  In fact, he so wants to clean up our secret places that we will be willing to show guests our closet and not hide things away.

 

I hope you can clean out those closets of the heart real soon, and be ready for the celebration of Jesus birth, every day!

 

God bless,

Dr. j