“And this is my prayer, that your love may
overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight.”
- Philippians 1:9
Yesterday,
in homes across the country, family dinner tables overflowed with food. People were
forced to choose between five different kinds of potatoes and three different
kinds of dressing (or just try them all), some who normally abstained from
dessert sampled three different kinds of pie, and turkeys intended to feed twenty
people were set in front of families of four. Even the most spartan of cooks
gave their best effort to make sure that the Thanksgiving meal was nothing short
of extravagant.
This
morning, as we shift from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season, some people braved
freezing temperatures to wait in line for hours outside Wal-Mart, Target, or
their local electronics store. Whether pursuing a television marked down by
40%, a phone with a discounted data plan, or the season’s hottest toy, people go
to great lengths on Black Friday to make sure they afford the most extravagant
gifts for their loved ones.
It
can hardly be disputed—this is a season of great extravagance, a time when
people do their best to materially show how much Thanksgiving and Christmas
mean to them. But with so much to cook, prepare, and buy in pursuit of an extravagant
holiday season, sometimes the spiritual aspect of these holidays can get short
shrift, relegated to an afterthought—a two-minute blessing before the
Thanksgiving meal or a speedy Bible reading on Christmas morning.
In
a season when our refrigerators overflow with leftovers and our fireplaces are
covered with beautifully wrapped gifts, surely our hearts should be filled with
love for the God from whom all blessings flow. May your worship be as bountiful
as your Thanksgiving table and your devotion as meaningful as your Christmas
traditions—in a season of abundance, may your love for God truly be
extravagant.
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