In line. Again. Sometimes I wonder if I’m spending my entire Christmas season in line. Ready…set…WAIT. People do say it’s the season of wonder. I was in an express line at a department store the other day doing some intense wondering. First, I was wondering why they call it “express.” How express is the line if I’m in it for over half an hour?
Second, I was wondering why there was mistletoe hanging at every checkout. What, they want to give me a smooch? Don’t take this the wrong way, but please don’t do me any favors, cashier-people. Then again, maybe the mistletoe is there so that after spending yet another half-hour waiting in line, we can kiss our Christmas cheer goodbye.
It’s easy to get a little lost in the hustle and bustle of the season. How is it we can still feel all “hustley/bustley” even when we’re standing, waiting in line? We don’t have to wonder why there’s no wonder.
How disappointing it is when we’re left wondering why the real wonder of Christmas has slipped away. The real wonder. The sweetness. The blessed meaning. Christmas is not meant to over-stress or overwhelm us. It’s not meant for overdoing or overspending. It’s meant for celebrating how Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into this world so that we could be made overcomers. First John 5:5 says, “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (ESV).
Jesus is the One who makes us overcomers as we believe, trust and rest in Him. Isn’t it amazing that as we truly rest in Him, we experience an amazing Christmas gift: peace! Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33, HCSB).
He truly is the One who overcomes. And the One who makes us overcomers. And the One who gives peace. He is The One! It’s clear and simple. No hustle. No bustle. No waiting. Overcoming through The Overcomer.
In one of the most amazing Christmas parties of all time, the angels announced the incredible gift of peace. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!” (Luke 2:14, HCSB).
It’s a peace bigger than freedom from hustling/bustling—though it can definitely bring peace there. But this is a universe-sized peace that reconciles a sinful people to a holy God. Christmas is the blessed reminder that we are “people He favors”—and He favors us with His peace. Glory!
Peace with God. And peace—even rest—in our Christmas. We don’t have to wait in line for this, my friends. “God rest ye, merry gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay, Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day.” You have to love a Christmas hymn that packages “rest” and “merry.”
The key is to remember Christ our overcoming Savior who was born to bring peace. It’s in that remembering that we find we can trade the noisy Christmas rush for a reverent Christmas hush. It’s a quiet rest we can experience even in a not-so-silent night. Even when all is loud. It’s in that place we express—truly express—our celebration of, gratitude for, worship of, love for our Jesus.
So go ahead. Line up. Ready, set—express! And may I say, for this kind of express line, I’m all in.