TOO PEOPLEY OUT THERE
December 5
The scene was last weekend. I was eyeball deep in all things Christmas. I had lugged all the tubs of Christmas decorations out of the basement and was going through each one looking for the pieces I wanted to put on display. Then… I got to the tub of lights. Now, for the record, every year I painstakingly put the lights away. I make sure they are in working order and I wind them on cardboard cores so they cannot get tangled. I do this so that the following year I can open the tub and get decorating without delays. Yet somehow…there are always light issues.
This year was no exception. My favorite lights didn't work at all and the long strand of white lights that I needed for the tree was tangled and had a burnt out section in the middle. I was tired. It had already been a long day but the mission of getting the lights on the tree had to happen if I was going to stay on schedule. I didn't want to go to the store. I imagined it like that popular Grinch meme that says "it's too peopley out there". But I reluctantly headed out.
I was walking toward the aisle with the Christmas decorations and I could tell from a distance that it had already barely survived lot of other shoppers. It was a mess. There was stuff strewn all over the ground and items hanging lopsided in places they didn't belong. As I approached the aisle I saw someone I knew. This person's life is an ongoing disaster and mind immediately went back through the years to all the conversations we have had with seemingly no progress. I heard my voice in my head say… "oh I just can't".
Without making the conscious decision to do so, I found myself walking down a parallel aisle so I could avoid this person. For a second, time seemed to slow down and was aware of each step I took as I heard God's voice…"I don’t avoid you". I wrestled with that thought all the way down that aisle and even as I dawdled at the other end of the decoration aisle stalling for time.
When I got home I kept thinking about my actions and my motives. I mean, I am literally building a display in my front yard to spur people to consider the truth about Christmas and yet I turned my back on an opportunity to engage a person right in front of me.
God could have easily looked at the way mankind had messed up the world and decided "It's too peopley out there" and choose to stay in His perfect Heaven. BUT HE DIDN'T… HE DID NOT AVOID US AT ALL! In fact He did the opposite. He engaged mankind in the most intimate of ways. He became one of us to show us The Way. That's what we are celebrating at Christmas! I want everyone to know that, and with His help, I will do better.
John 1:14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.