A Prayer For A Sincere Heart (Zechariah 7:5-6)
" 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking were you not just feasting for yourselves?' "
Lord as I prepare to celebrate Christmas tomorrow with my last minute to do list, dinner plans being set, and gifts ready to go under the tree I was struck by your words in Zechariah. Lord where is my heart this Christmas? Am I eager for Christmas because it is truly a time to celebrate you and to get excited about who you are and the gift - the salvation - your birth represented on that first Christmas night? Lord it is easy to say with my mouth that Christmas is about you and to deceive myself into thinking that the dinner plans and gifts are all done with you in mind but I need you to reveal to my heart and to the heart of each of us if we are merely speaking words or if we are filling our hearts with you, your joy and the excitement and wonder that should come from reflecting upon the true reason for the celebration of Christmas. It is Christmas eve and it is not to late for you to convict our hearts of anything that we have put before you as we head into tomorrow. Prepare our hearts to see you in Christmas, to experience you in Christmas, to delight in you on Christmas. I don't think the dinners with family and friends or the gifts given are a bad thing but may we not let them cause us to loose sight of why we are celebrating, may they not cause us to loose our focus on you Lord - the true reason we celebrate. I want my heart to be filled with wonder and delight of who you are and to truly celebrate the greatest gift ever given, which was you. Thank you Lord for your sacrifice when you left heaven to come to a wooden manger in Bethlehem, to grow up in the home of a carpenter, to travel as a man without a home to call your own so that you could teach us and eventually to be nailed to a wooden cross for me so that you could die and rise again and bring me hope, bring me back to the place you created me to be - by your side. I do love you Lord and I thank you so very much for the precious gift of your life for me. May my heart be filled with an awe and gratitude this Christmas unlike any I have every felt and may this years celebration truly be all about you. Merry Christmas!!!
Amen
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