Clay in the Hands

I am on vacation this week and so this morning I have been sitting in my comfortable chair, drinking a cup of coffee and listening to the silence.  The boys are still in bed and my lovely bride has to work today – so as I said, silence.

But as I look around the room, I see the remnants of Christmas.  The tree is standing there but dark.  There are still boxes scattered around the tree but they are empty.  Christmas is over.  As I sit here, there is a sense of sadness that the big day has come and gone.  Now I am faced with the clean up.  Depressing!

But I have had something stuck in my head since yesterday (not associated with the head cold I have been dealing with).  Christmas day is not the end but rather the beginning.  We build up to Christmas day starting in October or early November (unless you are like me and then it is much later).  We shop, we decorate, we plan, we cook, we wrap and we get excited.  Then once the day comes and passes, we feel let down a little, as if everything culminated on that one day.

But remember, Christmas day is our way of celebrating the birth of our Savior; an event when Jesus was born – the beginning of his life on earth.  He then grew and gathered disciples and taught them, and us, how to live and love.

So here is my challenge to you today.  Christmas day is not the end but rather the beginning.  How are you going to live today based on the knowledge that Jesus was born?  What are you going to do differently today to show the world that you follow Jesus?