The Christmas rush is here. What we claim to be a season of joy and peace often is a time of frustration and lost tempers. The bustle of Christmas is both exciting and exhausting. During this season there are programs to plan, practice and attend. We must appear at, and sometimes prepare for a myriad of special activities and appointments while trying to meet the regular schedule. The endless shopping brings with it spending worries, a shortage of ideas, and an overabundance of traffic. Some of us claim we are too busy to get an early start. We procrastinate. As a result the last minute rush, the hurry to get done, catches us.
One Christmas season I watched a lady who was in a hurry. She was unwilling to wait for the check out girl to get the cash register ready. This woman laid her items on the check out counter and stormed out of the store. For her, the Christmas rush was destructive.
The Christmas rush is not new. According to Luke's account of the nativity, a rush also accompanied the first Christmas. This rush was different from the Christmas rush of today. It was a rush out of excitement. It was a rush brought about by joy. The spirit of that rush is something we all need. The shepherds "made haste" as they went down to Bethlehem to find the incarnate Lord. These men knew the general vicinity of the event the angels had heralded, but they did not know the exact location of that lowly birth. They looked frantically for this Jesus. How different was that search from today's rush to find the faddish gift items that fade with time!
That first Christmas rush resulted from a desire to find Christ for themselves. The angels informed the shepherds of the King's birth. That was not enough. They needed to see and experience it for themselves. Regardless of the experience with Christ of someone else, it is not ours. We must each seek Him. If you do not know Christ as your personal Savior, may you make haste to meet Him!
Once the lowly shepherds found the incarnate Son of God in that manger, they could not contain their joy. They rushed to tell their friends about this One Who came to redeem them. May that spirit of joy and excitement be ours! During this season of sensitivity, let us rush to tell all the glad tidings of Christ's redeeming grace.
The shepherds left that stable with praise in their hearts and on their lips. That first Christmas rush included a rush to honor, glorify, and praise God. What a difference our Christmas season would be if, instead of the rush of mad activity, it included a rush to seek Christ, tell of Christ, and glorify Christ!