Well, here we are. The holidays are here! You won’t find a person more excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas than I am! I love getting together with family, I love the chaos that ensues from too many people stuffed in too small of a dining room (ok, well, I love it for the first half-hour or so anyway). And I’m not gonna lie… I love the food. I love the Christmas decorations, buying gifts… the whole shabang!

But do you know what my least favorite part of the holidays is? Having been through a few now as an adult, I’ve noticed a pattern, not only with my life but with others around me, especially my church family. There is a huge tendency in this season to fall into a spiritual “slump.” We become so consumed with everything going on for the holidays–which again, I love being part of–that we kind of “check out” and stick the God/church thing on cruise control. We stop pressing to get anything new from God; for some, we stop worrying about getting to church regularly, if at all, during this time. For others, we hurry in to service and hurry out, because we our heads just aren’t really “there” right now. Too much else is going on.

Kids are off school, adults take off work… Why not take a break from church and our spiritual pursuits, too? You know, just for a few weeks until we get the New Year rolling and everything settles down?

Let’s take a minute and think this through…

1. Let’s not lie to ourselves. Things never really settle down, do they? (To explore further, you may find this previous post about busyness intriguing). Let’s face it: Nothing magical is going to happen on January 2 to kick our rears back in gear and simultaneously calm our schedules down. I’m sure many of you can relate… By the time we realize the holidays are over and pull ourselves out of our slump, we’re halfway through February and headlong into our busy schedules!

Consider this: How you exit one season of life is how you enter the next. If we slump for these last few weeks of this year, then we will launch our New Year in a slump. Think about it… Many of us consider the start of a New Year as a fresh opportunity, a chance to forget about the last 12 months with all of its challenges and failures, and a chance to start new. Why would we want to start that new chance in a slump?

Ephesians 5:15-16 says:
Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Think about this… Every day you live and breathe is a new opportunity for you to either make the most of it or slump through it.

2. We don’t take a six-week break from our marriages or our families because of the holidays, do we? So why should we take a break from God and our church families? Our life is all about relationships. The Bible even says so…

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

Everything in our lives comes back to relationships. Our relationship with God is the first and foremost priority, then our relationships with one another come next. But if we neglect either one, it throws our lives out of balance. That’s why at our church, our vision is captured by the simple phrase: “Loving God… Loving People.” If what we are doing doesn’t start and end there, then we’re out of balance.

On to the next thought…

3. Consider the cost of the slump.

Referencing back to the thought about opportunities, if every day is a new opportunity, can we really afford to slump for six weeks…42 days… 42 opportunities from God to live and breathe to our fullest potential?

Are you really so spiritually strong and superior that you don’t need to continue cultivating your relationship with God for these six weeks? You don’t need the life and support that comes from gathering with your church family through worship services and small group meetings, so you can afford to take this time off?

Hebrews 10:25 answers this question for us:
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…

Let’s ask ourselves this in another way: Can you afford to stop eating for the next 42 days? Can you afford to stop drinking all fluids for the next 42 days? If we can’t afford to let our physical bodies go for six weeks, then why do we think we can afford to let our spiritual health go?

Now let’s take it beyond ourselves…

Can the people around us afford for us to slump spiritually for six weeks? Do people’s problems just go away because it’s the holiday season? As I’m sure you know, of course they don’t! In fact, for many people, their problems and their pain intensify in this season, and they feel greater senses of loss and failure in the middle of the celebration.

If we are the people of God, the ones He chose to live out His love to each other, then is it ok for us to “clock out” from our spiritual lives during this time of year–to go into hibernation– when people are still hurting around us?

Even as I write this, a family near here just buried their 17-year-old teenage son yesterday, 3 days before Thanksgiving. Two other families in the same community will be burying their teenage daughters in the coming week or so. The whole community is reeling from the sudden and tragic loss of these young people. Their pain isn’t going to be able to clock out for the holiday season. All 42 days of the next six weeks, they are going to be hurting deeply, and all 42 days, they are going to be in desperate need of the love and peace of God to minister to them intensely. What if the people called to minister God’s love to them are unavailable because they’ve checked into their spiritual holiday hibernation?

Perhaps ask yourself this question: Who around me is hurting and needs me to be God’s love to them this holiday season?

It may hit a lot closer to home than you think. It may be your teenage son or daughter who needs to find God for themselves, and your commitment to God may be the catalyst for them. It may be your spouse that is hurting and needs your love and attention more than ever. It may even be you that is hurting, and you need daily interaction with God more intensely than ever.

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. 2 Timothy 4:2

Let’s not just float through these holidays. Let’s recognize that these days are just important as any other day, and let’s set our minds on making a way to celebrate and enjoy the holidays without pushing our spiritual lives to the back burner.

Let’s say no to the holiday slump, and instead choose to be spiritually energized and alert, so that even in the midst of all of the hubbub and celebration, we are ready, willing, and available to detect and meet the need for God’s love and peace on a moment’s notice.

Then, on January 2, we can wake up with no remorse, but instead be full of passion and focus for continuing in the same momentum with which we ended this year!

Happy Opportunities!!