What if this were your last Christmas on earth? What special tradition would you want to create with your family? What message would you want to leave?
This is the true story of a friend of mine who had lost her battle to cancer and knew this would be the last Christmas she would spend with her family before being ushered into heaven.
She set up her Nativity scene the d
ay after Thanksgiving in its usual spot in her family room. However, she placed each one of the wise men in her childrens’ bedrooms. Each morning, she would instruct her children to move the wise men slightly closer to the Nativity scene, symbolizing the arduous trek that they would’ve taken to go and find the baby Jesus.
They would do this day after day, getting closer and closer as Christmas day drew nearer and nearer. Christmas Eve night after her children went to bed, she tenderly placed the baby Jesus in Mary’s arms for her children to find on Christmas morning.
She also left her children the following memoir:
Never feel that the difficulties in pursuing Jesus are not worth the effort. Bring your gifts to your King no matter how hard it is to sacrifice them. Always spend your time pursuing Him, for He will always appear to you at exactly the right time. As you live your days on earth, intentionally travel closer and closer to Him.
As I reflect upon her wisdom as she prepared to finally meet her King face to face, I have to ask myself: Am I intentionally drawing closer to Jesus? What are my gifts that He is asking me to offer Him? Do I truly believe that He will always appear to me at exactly the right time? In all probability the wise men from the east had arduously trekked for over a year in search of Jesus, following the star that had first appeared to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth.
For some of us the Christmas season can also be arduous. It can be filled with loneliness, sadness, busyness, financial strain and exhaustion. But will I choose to go to the manger and see the King of Kings with freshness this year and offer Him my worship?
As Christmas day draws nearer for each of us, may our new tradition be to intentionally pursue Jesus and to worship Him. May we bring Him the only gift that is truly due Him: our hearts.
My friend’s message was to pursue Jesus. No matter how difficult the journey. No matter the cost. This Christmas my friend is no longer pursuing Jesus. She has already been brought into the light and placed safely in His arms. She has been tenderly cradled by her King for several Christmases now, and I’m sure the message she would want to leave hasn’t changed.
What’s your message? What do you and your family do during the Christmas season to intentionally pursue Jesus?
