I was in Lowes last week. The Christmas decorations were gone. They were replaced by the tub section. In a move of marketing genius or customer surveys, Lowes is selling plastic storage bins. These bins were stacked and prominently displayed. Lowes must know something; the storage bins are all over the store! Lowes calls them totes. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to tote them around. I’m going to load them and pack them away.
That happens to Christmas too. We turn our homes into festive, color-coordinated gathering places for family and friends. We upend our schedules, violate our eating plans, confuse the animals that live with us, and plug too many things into the wall outlets. We do this celebrating the One born in a dark manger stall. Yes, I do it too! Eventually, Christmas is loaded into boxes or totes and packed away.
New Years Day is always packing Christmas away day. All of it is in boxes or the famous Lowes totes. It all fit nicely in the attic of the she-shed. There is an annual ritual when I’m stacking the totes in their place. There is one tote that is marked, “NO.” It is filled with Christmas decorations. These decorations are no longer put out. I have inquired about giving the contents to the children, donating them to Rolling Hills, or filing them in the cylindrical cans that are emptied once a week. The answer is always the same, “No, you can’t get rid of the NO box.” Do you suppose I would be blamed if that box vanished in the middle of the year? The NO box is at least a decade old. I think I have stored that stuff long enough. What about you? Are you storing stuff that you need to let go of? But, I digress.
It all goes back in the box. If you are playing Monopoly and win, or the Game of Life and finish, it all goes back in the box. You could even extend that to yourself. You will end up in some kind of box. Everything you acquire, it all goes back! Live your life not for things, but for people. The love and joy you give and share lives after you. The love and joy you share are the jewels in that crown in eternity. Pour your life into others, not into the things that will go back in boxes.
The Christmas packing process was efficient this year. It all fit in the boxes and totes. All of the totes fit back in their place. The tree fit in the box and the box was closed.
There is one item that is purposely left out. It is a small manger. It is in my office on a bookshelf. The empty manger reminds me of the empty tomb and the risen and reigning Christ. As the year unfolds, I will need that reminder often.
Did you leave something out to remind you of His daily presence in your life?
