“No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.”    1 Corinthians 2:7
 When the day after Christmas feels like “the morning after” to you, one feels like crying. Christmas is over and with it – all the excitement. The promise and excitement of gifts is finished and all that remains is a bunch of papers and empty boxes. The left over turkey and gammon are staring you in the face again and yesterday’s dessert looks like an accident!
 
What has  happened to that Christmas feeling, you wonder?
 Be glad you feel that way. That’s how you should feel when after all the ‘ooops … I ate too much’ and ‘oops my credit card is maxed after Christmas’ get hold of you the morning after. Christmas really begins only after the actual celebration is over when the events are stripped of everything shiny and worthless. It’s Christ in its simplicity for you that really makes you think what this time is about.
 No …. relax I love Christmas and don’t want to take the joy out of this festive time. This tired feeling in the aftermath of Christmas is not what God really wanted. God has his biggest rescue plan launched when his son was born on earth. It was not easy for Jesus to go through the pain of birth in a world where people on earth couldn’t imagine in their wildest dreams what Jesus had to leave behind to become human and join us on this dusty earth. Keep the crib in your heart
 No, God who became man is not just a  season’s excitement and entertainment. The birth of Christ is a miracle. Let us therefore keep the crib in our hearts to remind us of His goodness in our lives, like the Israelite’s kept the sacred ark of God wherever they traveled.   Let’s look past the temporary to the eternal which God has for us through His Son, to a new heaven and a new earth which have been prepared by God.
 So enjoy the pleasure and joy that characterize the season, but keep your heart open for the Living Christ which you cannot pack or hide in a box.
May you have a wonderful Christmas for all the right reasons and enjoy all of it – even if you did receive the gift you always wanted!