You just know when it is time to move on to something else. 

It’s the 9th of January and we still have our Christmas decorations up. The outdoor lights still come on precisely at 5 p.m. And the Christmas tree lights in the living room still get turned on every evening. 

We’ve milked the Christmas mood or feeling to the limit. 

Most of us like to do that, especially if we don’t have something specific to move on to.

After Christmas there isn’t another season to transition to – it’s just the cold and dirtier side of the same winter season. 

After Christmas you notice that the white blanket of snow that falls on the trees and grass is just dull, grey and brown. Maybe it has to do with the sanding trucks that are running at full tilt at this time of year. Our church parking lot has about a pickup truck full of salt and sand on it and we haven’t even made it to February yet. 

That wonderful winter scene that adorns Christmas cards and instagram posts is never shot in the middle of January. That’s because nothing outside looks good in the middle of January. 

So why not keep the Christmas look and the Christmas feeling around as long as possible. Certainly the lights make looking as the filthy mounds of snow in parking lots a little easier. 

But you know when it’s time to take it all down. You can delay but eventually there comes a time you just have to make the switch. 

I used to instinctively know when to make a switch when I was a youth pastor planning activities for a Friday night group. I would plan lots of games or things to do, but I wouldn’t necessarily mind whether we did them all. 

If a game was going well, if the students were really getting into an activity, I would keep it going and not switch to a new activity. By the end of the night if we didn’t run one or two games, it was fine. It just meant that something else was a hit. 

There is another reason we delay putting Christmas away. No one likes packing it up and putting everything back in the boxes. 

Yet when I look outside, I’m thinking it’s time. 

It’s a nice day today, most of the snow on our lawn has melted and the outside temperature is sitting at about 4 degrees. I don’t like putting the lights away at the best of times, but I really hate putting them away when the wind is howling at -15 degrees. 

Ya, we know when it’s time to move on, when it’s time to give in to the dull, bleak, overcast January blues. 

I’m ready for spring now … only that won’t come around for another two to two and a half months. 

Without the Christmas lights as a camouflage to what’s really going on outside, I will have to dream of summer a little more. 

… But with the weather we have today, I just know it’s time to say goodbye to Christmas.

Here’s the thing: When God nudges you to do something, maybe even to place your faith in Him, you know it’s time to act. Don’t think that there will be a day ahead that will be just as good as today. You don’t know if that day will come. All you know is that today is a good day; just do it. 

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What have you been delaying that you should just do today? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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