Busy being distracted

As a leader in my church, I am always warning people about the danger of getting distracted by the busyness that surrounds Christmas. There is so much to do, and such a compressed time frame (especially this year!) that it's easy to get pulled away from what's important by what is urgently in front of us.

Alas, I find that I am guilty of this myself. Between activities at church and my "concert season" at school, I find I am always trying just to keep up with what's coming next, and trying not to get overwhelmed by looking at what's still ahead. I thought I left this behind when I left the retail world, but, if anything, my life is actually busier during the Advent season than it was then.

What I have scheduled to do are all good things. We have a number of community outreaches at Christmastime, my students at school really love their chance to perform at the concerts, and preparation for performances is in itself something good and important. But when looking forward to Christmas as a day of rest from all that is hectic becomes a real temptation, I know I've lost some perspective.

I don't need to completely clear my calendar. What I do need is to remember why I'm doing all of this. If I lose sight of the fact that Christmas is about Christ (no matter what the atheist billboard in NYC says), then I've lost the reason for doing pretty much everything on my list that's not required by my job. Why worry about singing about the glory of Jesus Christ if I forget that He's the reason I sing? Why help plan a church outreach if the Gospel story isn't impacting my own life so I want to share it with others? My activity becomes meaningless to me personally if I don't connect it to my Lord and Savior.

Now, I can certainly go through the motions, lose sight of the Lord, and still have my efforts make an impact by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. My own attitude doesn't thwart God's plans. But it means so much more if I am drawing closer in my own connection to Christ while I encourage others to do the same. God wants me to help share the good news with others, but He also wants me to let that good news change me.

So here's my usual warning: don't let the busyness of the season pull you away from time to meditate on the One who is the reason we celebrate. I promise you I'll take my own advice, too. Let's commit to honoring Christ first in all we do this Advent and Christmas season.