Now that
our Christmas tree is up we have begun decorating its boughs. Among the
decorations are the old ornaments of my childhood. Then there are the school
crafts of our grown children. Along with
those somewhat tattered memories are the mementos of of vacations and
trips. Many years of ornament collecting
from the 50 ‘s to now. Each one is a collectible and I try to add one new
ornament each year. Our kids and grandkids look forward to our tree holding
precious keepsakes every year. You could say it’s a memory tree.
What are
you decorating your tree with this year?
If we were
to decorate our lives like we do our Christmas trees, with memories of the
past, how would our trees look? Would the boughs hold sweet reminders of
wonderful times? These memories add to our lives – they enhance the view of our
past and help us enjoy our present as well as encourage us to look forward to
our futures.
Or would
the limbs showcase our disappointments, our futility, our rejections, mistakes,
and more. Would we put the best ornaments forward or would we try to display
every hurt, humiliation and heartache for the world to see?
While the
ornaments on Christmas trees across the country remind folks of precious
memories, we must be careful not to decorate our memories with those things
that do nothing for Kingdom living. We cannot relive our past mistakes nor hold
onto our future fears. It’s not going to
do anyone any good, especially us, if we bring up old mementos of bad days we
wish had never happened and relive each and every one over and over every year.
We must
choose carefully those things we choose to adorn our lives with. The beauty of
God’s peace should be our shining star. No one has such wonderful peace as
those who have given their lives, with the entire load of guilt, pain, remorse,
regrets and failures, to the Lord. The Light of salvation, rich and full and
free, should shine brightly among every single bough. No need to go cheap on
this light for the more you share it among the limbs, the more it will shine out
for others to see. Pick out the best to
put on the front – joy, faith, contentment, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness
and more. These are beautifully painted and color our hearts and lives with
inner radiance. While the sorrowful
things of life tend to weigh life down, those good and gracious and precious
memories tend to lift up the heart and make merry.
As you
prepare to decorate your tree, take a moment to review your life. Now is as
good a time as any to look over each memory to see if it’s worth carrying to
the tree. Why don’t you just box up those things that might bring you to
despair or weigh you down? Keep them in the box, don’t bring them out again –
those ornaments only bring more pain and more heaviness. In fact, why don’t you just hand that box
full of things you cannot handle on your own and give them to the One Who can
dispose of them correctly? He will take your hurts, your pain, your regrets and
your failures, along with future fears and discontentment and remove them as
far as the east is from the west. You’ll never have to deal with them again
when they’re given to Him. And if they try to show back up in the future you
can refuse ownership of them, reminding yourself that God has handled all your
broken, disfigured and torn memories.
Oh beloved,
isn’t it time to decorate the tree fresh and new? Bring out the best that God
has to offer – priceless ornaments of life that were purchased for you freely
and without conditions! His adornment of
His peace will be all you will feel in your heart and see in your mind as you
hand your entire collection of life to the One Who came to release you from it
all. You won’t be empty handed, for He will fill your life with all good things
as you portray His Truth about you.
God loves
you and He’s for you and those are trimmings that never grow old no matter how
many times you decorate your heart and mind with them.
2
Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has
made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is
seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
Psalm
119:162 I rejoice in Your word like one who discovers a great treasure.
Philippians
4:8 …Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and
lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of
praise.
Colossians
3:10 …and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge
according to the image of the One who created him.
2
Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in
Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in
every place.
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