Holidays: Day 4

“But the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word.”
Matthew 13:22 NRSV

Thought

Likely you know the instinctive sense of aversion when print advertising and television commercials assault you prematurely with stealth campaigns that inevitably draw your attention to the extended holiday season. It seems that advertising and decorating begin earlier each year. You are inescapably hostage to rampant commercialism. Inwardly you perhaps groan, but at some point likely you succumb to its banal urgency. Manage the insistent, artificial urgency of the commercial holiday season one day at a time.

Prayer

God, the cares of my own small world seem enlarged by the holiday season. I pray for strength and resolve to resist the world and live in your Word. Amen.

Assurance

I will set realistic expectations for myself and for the holiday.