Practicing The Presence

Jan 9, 2023

With the Christmas decorations all packed away for another year, I find myself introspective.

While I must admit that it is really nice to return to healthy eating and a regular schedule, I don’t want to forget the reason we gathered with family and friends, celebrating Christ’s birth.

Our grandson, Emery, loves our Fisher Price Nativity set and, as an almost three year old, spent a lot of time moving the pieces around. We’d talk about “baby Jesus” and all of the nativity scene characters and animals. I so badly wanted to be able to know all that was going on in that little mind. I wonder…

Should we leave the nativity set up year round? Perhaps that visual reminder is what we really need to keep Christmas in our hearts. Baby Jesus came to save the world!

As we move through January, take a moment to linger over a cup of coffee or tea and think about ways you can be intentional about keeping Jesus close to your heart throughout this coming year.

I mentioned last week that I’m reading through the Gospels every month. I’ve spent so much time learning from other writers of the Scriptures these last few years that I’ve lost some of the intimacy I used to have with Jesus. I don’t just want to know about Jesus. I want to know Jesus more intimately! I want to slowly read the red letters and contemplate the meaning of the words.

I want to move through every moment of my day consciously and fully present in His presence.

You may have heard of Brother Lawrence, a 17th century Christian who had a dramatic spiritual awakening at the age of 18. While in a Carmelite Monastery in Paris, he worked in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. During any activity, whether kneading dough, heating soup or cleaning the floors, he was aware of God’s presence and made each of his tasks an act of worship. He tells his story in a short little book called “The Practice of the Presence of God” and describes how that small act of presence changed his life.

The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3 that he was a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee who strictly obeyed the Jewish law. But once he encountered Christ, everything changed. Paul writes:

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.

- Philippians 3:8-10 (NLT)

EVERYTHING else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ. What powerful words! We only truly know someone when we spend time with them. Time requires practicing the presence of God.

Maybe it’s not such a bad idea after all to leave our Nativity set up year round. What a great visual reminder that Jesus came to be with us at Christmas - and every 1,440 minutes of each day.