Advent Joy After Christmas

Well, somehow, Christmas Day is tomorrow. I’m not quite sure how that’s possible, but here we are. After four wonderful weeks of exciting plans, holiday get-togethers, and so many different town events to celebrate, we’ve made it to the big day. This day is usually filled with family or friends, lots of gifts to open, traditions to enjoy, and just overall contentment.

And then. December 26th comes. And December 27th. And December 28th. Slowly but surely, the decorations come down. There are no more presents to open. The anticipation of the season has simmered down and for us in Colorado, we are left to face the next few months of cold, snow, and ice without the magic of the holiday season.

For me, it has always been an unwelcomed letdown. After spending the last month swept up in the holiday season, it’s a hard adjustment back to reality.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Our Christmas celebration doesn’t need to end on the 26th. It doesn’t need to be forgotten by January 1st. It doesn’t need to lie dormant until the next Thanksgiving. Because the joy that was introduced to us at the manger remains every day of our lives. It doesn’t lose its luster after the holidays. It doesn’t diminish in value after Christmas break. It is an eternal gift that remains in our hearts day in and day out.

Look at these words our Savior offered to his disciples:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” John 16:20-22

Jesus knew the road his disciples were about to walk would be hard. He knew there would be sorrow and pain and hardships once he left them.

But he gives us an incredible promise. He’s coming back. He’s coming back to dwell with his people, defeat sin and death once and for all, and reign for eternity. And because his work on the cross saved our souls, we get to join in the glorious, endless, eternal worship of our gracious God.

That joy cannot be taken from us. That joy is something we can cling to no matter what season of life we are in.

Even when the last of the gifts are opened, even when the decorations come down, even when we get back into our post-holiday routine and face days and days of cold winter months, the gifts we received at the manger will not end. The hope, peace, love, and joy that Jesus brought to our hearts will remain in our deepest valleys, in our harshest trials, and in all of our unknowns.

Each of these glorious truths is just as real on Christmas Day as they are every other day of the year.

So I pray that you’ll join me in daily reminding ourselves to look back at the manger, look back at the cross, and look forward in great anticipation at the second coming of our Savior. He is coming back. We will see him again. No one and nothing can take that joy away from you.