Monday, February 3, 2014
EPIPHANY (AH HA!) MOMENTS = PAST CHRISTMAS TREES
It was just a couple of weeks ago that we took down our church Christmas tree and decorations following the Sunday Epiphany service. It reminded me of our own Christmas tree at home and the years my family has kept up that tradition. At times, my family has had an artificial tree. It is, after all, more economical. But I have always loved getting a fresh tree, needles, sap, and all ... and smell that fragrant aroma for the time that it is in our home. There's great joy and peace in those evergreen trees, isn't there?
But, like all things, the Christmas tree we brought into our home or the big one we had in church, didn't last forever. Eventually it stops drawing water and the sap -- the blood life of the tree -- slows down and the tree finally dies. The tree that once stood as a tall reminder of the wooden manger stable that held the baby Jesus, or the rugged wooden cross that He hung from when He died for the sins of the world -- that tree doesn't last forever. So I'm always sad to see the dead tree go.
Yet, even in its death, the Christmas tree gives me a reminder of my own mortality and the frailty of my life. As much as we love this world, it is fading away and slowly dying. How sad and depressing would that be if that were the only truth! Who would ever put a tree up in their house? A Christmas tree without Christ at Christmas is only a tree that will eventually die. But the home with Christ as the center, the Christmas tree even though it dies, gives tremendous life and hope and light and a fragrant smell to those who gather around it -- enjoying its constant reminders of God's Word and Gift at Christmas. A Gift that lasts throughout the whole year!
This year I pray for God's grace to allow me to be a little more like my Christmas tree, even if for a short time. To point everyone to that promised "Star of David," Christ my Lord. To remind others of the Gift freely given by our Savior for our eternal salvation. I think that if maybe a silent Christmas tree can do that, by the grace of God I can do even more! "So let your 'light' so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven!" (Matthew 5:16).
