Dec 3rd, 2020: Christmas Blessing - Life De-Cluttering

 5 Lessons for Us From Going Back to Bethlehem | Dr. Michelle Bengtson

When Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem, they knocked on many doors so that they could find refuge for their journey. There was no guest room left, so she ended up giving birth to Jesus in a manger. I got caught up one time in a small town in Manitoba a few years ago. I didn't think about booking a room in advance only to find out that there was no room left due to a local corn festival. It was not fun to drive for another 60 km to find a hotel room. I was alone and had no pregnant wife.

Have we ever considered the blessing that God knocks on our door and waits for us to invite him in? Are we so busy that there is no room left in our life for him? Sometimes we might miss a blessing from God because we are so distracted and cannot hear his voice. Sometimes we find excuses not to do so. We might try to be open to God, but think it is a bother to open the door, or we know that He is coming but decide to turn the lights off and pull the window curtains shut.

Sometimes we need to empty the clutter of life so that we can find space and time for God. Have we ever thought that one of the significant blessings of Christmas is to have the time to go through our life's priorities? It is challenging to do so because it demands brutal honesty towards ourselves. That is both freeing and painful. Many of us have to go through de-cluttering of life recently as we encounter many issues in life without having any control or whatsoever.

As I find myself missing my kids and other people in my life this Christmas, I feel deep grateful and blessed for the presence in my life. Nothing can take that away. It is time for us to be marveled by what Christmas is about and allow ourselves to experience it in the context of our relationship with one another. Let us take the time this Christmas Season to wait for God with anticipation.

Luke 11:9-10

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened."

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