Editor’s note: Believe it or not, Advent and Christmas are right around the corner! Today, we’re sharing a sneak-peek at a brand-new devotional that brings back the nostalgia of one of the most beloved Christmas classics A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Enjoy today’s devotion from A Christmas Carol Devotional.
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Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. — Matthew 6:33 ESV
“Christmas a humbug, uncle!” said Scrooge’s nephew. “You don’t mean that, I am sure?”
On Christmas Eve, we find Scrooge “busy in his counting-¬house,” with his office door open and a sharp “eye upon his clerk,” Bob Cratchit. Bob copies letters by a tiny fire “in a dismal little cell beyond” and tries “to warm himself at the candle.” The “cold, bleak, biting” weather matches Scrooge’s mood. People “wheez[e] up and down” outside, “beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them.” Thick fog pours “in at every chink and keyhole,” and the houses opposite look like “mere phantoms.”
In the midst of the cold and gloom, Scrooge’s cheerful nephew Fred enters: “A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!” But Scrooge snaps back angrily, “Bah!... Humbug!” Fred, “all in a glow,” looking “ruddy and handsome” from the cold, is not deterred. His eyes sparkle and his breath smokes: “Christmas a humbug, uncle!... You don’t mean that, I am sure?” But Scrooge does mean it. He tells Fred, “Keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.” But Fred points out that Scrooge doesn’t keep it at all. He skips it!
Scrooge claims Christmas never did anybody “much good,” but Fred points to “the veneration” of the holiday “due to its sacred name and origin.” He says Christmas is “a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time” of year when “men and women... open their shut-¬up hearts freely, and... think of people below them.” Finally, Fred declares, “I believe that [Christmas] has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!” But Scrooge is unmoved.
To Scrooge, Christmas is nothing but humbug or nonsense—a scam. He sees it as one big plot to make him part with his money. And perhaps he has a point. Sometimes the Christmas season can feel like nonsense. It often seems more draining than delightful. The sacred gets lost in the spending. The holy is so easily overshadowed by the humbug.
If Christmas doesn’t seem to be doing us “much good,” maybe we’re doing it wrong. Maybe instead of keeping Christmas our way, we need to keep it God’s way.
- Maybe we need to find our way back to Bethlehem, back to the sacred origin of this special time of year.
When Jesus was born on that holy night over two thousand years ago, there was no tree or tinsel, no holly or ivy. There was a young virgin girl and her husband, far from home, with nowhere to stay. Mary gave birth to a son in the quiet of the night:
She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. — Luke 2:7
Shepherds came to see Him and told everyone what they had seen and heard, and
Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. — v. 19
The first Christmas was simple and sacred, and our faith is meant to be the same: intimate and life-giving. Jesus didn’t come for the feast or festivities, the traditions or the trimmings. He came to have a personal relationship with His people.
His very name Immanuel means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).
Christmas isn’t humbug. Christmas is God coming down and inviting us to know Him.
Prepare Him Room
If Christmas is about anything other than Jesus, it falls flat. No matter how amazing we try to make it, no matter how many parties we attend or special baking projects we tackle, if Jesus isn’t at the center of our hearts and plans, we end up feeling drained and empty.
Are you tired of all the hoopla? Are you exhausted by the humbug of it all? Often, the clutter and clamor of the Christmas season leave very little room for Christ! If you want to do things differently this year, take this time to lay your plans before the Lord. “Seek first” the things of God, and everything else will fall into place (Matthew 6:33). Ask God to help you sift through the wood, hay, and straw of distraction in your life (1 Corinthians 3:12), and focus your eyes on celebrating the most precious gift of all: Jesus, the Son of God, your Immanuel.
As you prepare for Christmas, take time to treasure up and ponder all the details of Jesus’s birth.
- Tiptoe back to Bethlehem and revel in the beauty of it all.
Settle your soul next to the manger, bask in the glory of God’s one and only Son, and bow your heart in worship.
A Christmas Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You for helping me refocus my attention on You today. I want to set aside the busyness and humbug of the Christmas season and place You at the center of my heart and celebrations. I don’t want to live stressed and busy. I want to fully experience the joy of this sacred season. Your coming is the best news of all and I say, God bless it! Show me where to trim back my calendar so I’m not overwhelmed and distracted. I want to give You my full attention this Christmas. In Your name I pray, amen.
Excerpted with permission from A Christmas Carol Devotional by Rachel Dodge, copyright Rachel Dodge.
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Your Turn
Is your relationship with Jesus intimate and personal? Refocus on Him today! Far before the Christmas tree gets decked out and lights are strung, you can make room for Him and enjoy His presence in your life. Give Him your attention today! ~ Devotionals Daily