It is the busy life that will frustrate your adoration of Jesus this Christmas
Think about a scenario with me, briefly. Say you're in a conversation with a friend, and you mention a mutual pal. And your friend comes back in response, "Oh, I absolutely adore him!"
What is your friend saying in this short few words?
I mean, sure, they could be exaggerating a bit. Or they may not be. But what is the substance of this statement, if we take it pretty much at face value?
It's a strong statement of affection towards this mutual friend of yours, to be sure. But more than that, it's a statement of openness to this friendship, and carries a sense of desire to continue to build and develop the friendship wherever possible. In short, there is affection, openness, and intention to grow the relationship in these short few words.
A Beautiful Christmas Carol
The first Carol we sung together in our first service back on-site, "O Come All Ye Faithful", is a call to adore Jesus. The central chorus rises,
"O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."
This exhortation is surely more than just to sing of Him, or sing to Him. Surely it is a call to deepen our affections for Jesus, to grow more open to Him in our lives, and to intentionally grow our relationship with Him our Lord!
What gets in the way?
This is all well and good, but we may not feel that strongly towards Jesus right now, or feel open to Him, or have lost our intentionality in our walk. Why is that? What gets in the way?
In a word, we get busy. Busy is actually what can get in the way of our affections, our openness, even our intentionality towards Jesus growing strong and deep.
We get busy and find ourselves torn between seeking Jesus and getting stuff done. This can create frustration, and before you know it we're annoyed or stressed and put off our plans to spend time with Jesus.
We get busy and find ourselves so tired that we have limited energy to actually practice being open to Jesus. And so our busyness slowly closes us off to God, and soon enough, we don't really feel like being with Him at all.
We get busy and slowly watch our growth goals with Jesus fall by the wayside.
Sound familiar to you? I'm unfortunately writing from tried and tested experience.
A question
Do you think the friend you're talking with in the imaginary scenario above would be willing to diarise coffee, or a picnic, or a dinner, with your mutual friend if they offered?
You bet! Your friend would make time for such opportunities, assuming they are genuine in their "adoration" of your mutual pal.
So, how about with the Lord?
Make time for adoration this week
So, let me ask you:
How do you feel towards Jesus this Christmas season? Are you affections strong for Him?
How open are you to the voice, wisdom, and ways of Jesus this Christmas season?
How intentionally are you growing your relationship with Jesus this Christmas season, and beyond?
A few suggestions to help you as you make time for adoration of Jesus this week leading up to Christmas:
Soaring worshipful renditions of well loved Christmas Carols like the one we enjoyed on Sunday are a great way to stir our affections afresh for him. Spend time worshipping Him in song.
Taking time to journal before Jesus is a powerful way to express ourselves to Him, process our often mixed emotions, and find His kindness and voice to us, renewing and growing our adoration for Him in the process.
Taking time, even more simply, to open the pages of scripture, particularly around the birth of Christ and the bible's anticipation of this moment throughout the Old and New Testaments. Here's a reading plan if you would like to work with a devotional: The King Is Coming | Devotional Reading Plan | YouVersion Bible
As this year draws to a close, why not take some time to think over how you have gone walking with Jesus this year, and how you'd like things to develop over 2022. Think - what would a stronger, healthier, more personal walk with Jesus look like by the end of next year?
There you go. A few ways to cultivate adoration of Jesus in the week ahead.
Come let us adore Him together church!
Written by Ps. Rob.