What Decorating My Christmas Tree Reminded Me of This Year
As I'm sitting here in my living room writing this, I am surrounded by a few Christmas decorations. I have wrapped presents. There are lights going up my staircase. I have Christmas magnets on my refrigerator. And of course, I have a Christmas Tree!Now I will be frank with all of you; I have an artificial tree. You can thank my allergies for that one. And today, on December 3rd, my artificial tree has no ornaments on it. (Even though it has been up for a couple of weeks.)Half of it may be laziness. Half of it is that I like its look, but I also know that I would like the look of a fully decorated tree. And, yes, many people in my life have yelled at me for not decorating it!
So even though this post will not help me keep it un-decorated, it is what God put on my heart today, so I figured I would write about it. Here it goes...
The tree I have was given to me by my family. It was a gift, something to make my home more festive for Christmas. While my family gave me the tree, and it accomplishes its goal, I can dress it up each year and be even more festive with ornaments and decorations.
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While I was sitting here looking at my tree, I couldn't help but think about the life given to me by God our Father. He decided to put me in this world and give me the opportunity to love Him and spread His love to others. Now we could go through life loving God and believing in Him but not doing anything else, but that would be like my un-decorated Christmas Tree!
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than this." - Mark 12:30-31
God has given us the ability and privilege to go out into the world and share the love with those around us.
Does He force us to do it? No. Neither am I forced to decorate my Christmas tree. But think about how much better a decorated tree looks and the difference it makes in your heart when you look at it instead of when the tree is not decorated. It spreads happiness and Christmas spirit to everyone who sees it. And the decorations you put on your tree speak to who you are as a person and how God has brought you to where you are in your life.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." - Matthew 28:19
So go out and decorate your tree. Use your life for what it was meant to be used for. Love God and Love Others! Do this, and you will be so dressed up with "Godly decorations" that everyone who encounters you will be changed for the good.