The Season of Joyful Noise (or is it just noise?)

December 2, 2009

Many people react with delight to the songs of Christmas at the beginning of the season. But, as those songs are played earlier and earlier each year ... and last longer and longer in one long season, we may tire of them.

Workers in stores, who hear the piped in Christmas music for hours during their shift, confess to a feeling of wanting "to fall on their sword" if they have to hear White Christmas one more time.

A cutesy song, like "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", may be funny the first few times we hear it, but given a steady diet of it, we may start thinking of ways that Grandma can be better cared for, so she won't totter out into harm's way next Christmas!

Sometimes the sounds of the season seem to drown out Jesus instead of leading us to come and adore Him. Songs are not the only reminders of the sounds of the season. Just today, on "black Friday" (day after Thanksgiving), we were treated to the unwelcome sounds of people blaring their horns at each other in traffic. The season is young and already there is evidence of "me first" instead of loving one another. I just read of the tragedy of a Wal-Mart worker in New York, who was trampled to death by the crowd storming into the store this morning.

How do we keep our perspective and hear the Lord above the noise of the season? Remember the simple principle of the radio stations. The closer you are to the transmitter, the clearer the message will be. The further away you are, the harder it will be to hear the message. If you try to switch back and forth between stations, you will get a little of this one and a little of that one and you will hear neither very well. If you get stuck between stations, you just get static.

Make a commitment this year to stay close to the ultimate Transmitter, Jesus. If you want peace, He already told us which "station" to find.

Turn your channel to Jesus and don't touch that dial!