December 16. Christmas is distracting! My girls had an early piano lesson this morning, so I thought I would seize the opportunity to do my Advent reading and writing early in the day. Two Christmas gifts and a list of To-Do’s later, I finally opened my Bible and journal.

Early in this journey, I read a little book by Peter Marshall called Let’s Keep Christmas. I think I picked it up from the free table at the homeschool convention last summer. In it, Marshall wrote, “Let’s not give way to cynicism and mutter that ‘Christmas has become commercialized!’ It never will be unless you let it be. Your Christmas is not commercialized unless you let it be.”

Ouch! And Amen! I love what this attempt to reflect on Advent has done for me. God has shown me so many truths. But, sadly, He has also shown me how distracted and distractible I am. And how much emphasis I still place on the material aspects of Christmas. I have no doubt that had I not committed to putting my journal reflections on my blog, they would have ended many days ago. Why? Priorities.

This past Sunday, our pastor preached a sermon on the passage in Revelation 3 where Christ accuses the church in Laodicea of being lukewarm. “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3: 15-16, ESV)

In the sermon, Pastor Dan challenged the congregation to read the Bible as much or as much as or more than we watch TV. I am not remotely a TV watcher, so that would not actually be hard for me. But last summer, he made a similar challenge to read Scripture and pray as often as we surf the Internet.  Another Ouch!

These challenges draw my attention to all of the things I insist on doing before my time with God that result in my “running out of time.” Sleep, my phone, Facebook, Christmas shopping, texting a friend, eating, school planning. I don’t run out of time; I just prioritize some things over others.

As much as I have gained from reading, reflecting, and writing about Advent this month, I still seem to have an “as soon as I ______________” attitude—“As soon as I finish the shopping, I will sit by the tree and look at the lights and just relax.” “After everything is wrapped, I can watch some of our Christmas classics with the kids.”

I would like to accept my pastor’s challenge to read the Bible as much as I surf the Internet or watch TV. But that will never happen if I make it another “as soon as I ______________” priority. I have to put His Word and my prayers first—above all else that I do.

Peter Marshall also wrote, “The years that are gone are graveyards in which all the persuasions of men have crumbled into dust. If history has any voice, it is to say that all these ways of men lead nowhere. There remains one way—The Way—untried, untested, unexplored fully…the way of Him who was born a Babe in Bethlehem.”

Lord, even though it disappoints me to see how distracted and distractable I can be, I am grateful for the correction and the instruction. Help me accept Pastor Dan’s challenge to read the Bible more than I engage in activities like Internet surfing or watching TV. Help me prioritize my Advent study each day.  And ultimately, help me see that my way leads to dust and a graveyard and a lukewarm Christianity, but Your Way leads to eternal joy and peace–even now amidst the holiday busyness.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV)