I love my calendar!

While our Eternal God has no inherent need for measuring days and weeks, He certainly knows people like me, His finite creation, sure needs them. You see, calendars are incredibly useful in the craft of life-change.

Why?

Because calendars provide doors for closure and windows for change. They remind us that life, like sand in an hour glass, is quietly, yet unrelentingly, slipping away.

David prayed, ““Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” (Psalm 39:4)

My calendar helps me to make the most of every moment. Weeks, for instance, only have seven days. That means I have a chance to put a bad one behind me. Tuesday may have been a disaster, but Sunday’s coming! Or maybe December was filled with disappointments. Well, December only has thirty-one days and then I’m launched into a whole New Year of potential and new opportunities.

So let our prayer be like that of Moses:

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

Love your calendar because it helps to provide a measurable context; context brings clarity, and clarity will lead to a wise heart and a meaningful life.

Stress is like a poisonous fog blinding our eyes to the greatness of God and sucking all the joy from our lives. As we set our sights on a New Year, wouldn’t it be great to eliminate the stress from our lives?

But how? Where do we start?

Much of the stress in our lives comes from two basic roots:

#1: Indecision

#2: Lack of Control

Here’s a simple, yet powerful exercise to help you cut through the poisonous fog of stress. Ask yourself the following questions:

What are three decisions you need to make in the next month? Take a couple of minutes to write them down. Now that you have identified them, begin to focus on the answers.

What are the top three areas in your life where you feel out of control? It may be your finances, your appetites, or your relationships? Take a couple of minutes to identify these areas. Now that you know the issues, begin to focus on finding solutions.

The simple act of identifying areas of indecision and lack of control will help to eliminate much of the stress you are feeling. Once the suffocating fog has lifted, you can see your life with greater clarity.

In our increasingly secularized American culture, we have great difficulty dealing with the language of holidays (read “holy-days”). When that which is holy is denied, there is really no reason to celebrate any day. All days become equally ordinary and unspectacular.

So our public schools celebrate “winter break” and our store clerks wish us a warm “holiday greetings” as we purchase our gifts (from Santa Claus). It can become quite insane when Christ is removed from the center of it all.

Insanity is bad enough; however, eternal damnation makes insanity seem like a hangnail. Listen to the straightforward message of Jesus:

“If you do not believe that I am He [i.e. the Savior] you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)

What’s at stake in our Christ-less Christmas celebrations? The most important thing we have – our souls. To ignore “the reason for the season” is to risk dying in your sins and spending an eternity separated from the One who gave His life you.

Christmas reminds us of our great need and God’s loving gift. His name shall be called…

“JESUS, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21

Have you received God’s priceless gift, Jesus, as the answer to your greatest problem? If not, what’s stopping you? Place Christ in the center of your heart and in the center of your Christmas!