Postures Of Advent: A Daily Christmas DevotionalSample

Do a life inventory as you enter the Christmas season. Is there any way you can simplify?

Our tendency for individualistic, materialistic lifestyles, especially in our modern world can lead us to see everything as a need. 

We need the latest and greatest tech. We need that extravagant vacation. Instead of sharing with our neighbours, we need our own snowblowers, lawnmowers, and a whole plethora of other things we really could share.

Beyond that, we need to attend every single thing. Every Christmas gathering, every sporting event, every social event, every book club. And a hurried lifestyle leads us to need more. More gas in the car, more takeout meals on the go, more internet access.

There’s nothing wrong with a full life. But we need to confess, perhaps as a society, that we’ve not understood the difference between a full life and an overwhelming one.

Especially in seasons like Christmas, we’ve let our perceived needs distract us from what’s really important—the things Jesus would want for us. Things like love, joy and peace. Community, intentionality and space to breathe. 

Take some time to make an inventory:

• What in your life might you think is a need, but is actually just distracting excess?
• What in your life might distract you and your family from worshipping Jesus in this season? 
• What steps can you take to keep your eyes fixed on Christ over the next four weeks?

Simple living starts with simply fixing our eyes on Jesus so that we can have the right relationship to everything else in our lives.