Barrage - Too Early, Too Late, Too Much, Too Little, to Whom or .... TO HIM!

A Barrage Of Extremes....   I have been witnessing quite a bit of this lately. 

One friend is already complaining about hearing too many Christmas Songs.  She works at Wal-Mart and apparently they started playing Christmas music and stocking holiday shelves the day after Halloween.  However, another friend told me that her husband didn't believe in putting up any Christmas decorations until after December 1st,  while still another is heading south for the winter to avoid having to celebrate Christmas at all! 

One Wiccan friend of mine looks at Christmas Day (or the Winter Solstice to her) as a festival of food, hoping for "four turkeys in one day" while another Pastor encourages spending less money on gifts and spending more time together.  Instead he suggests sharing the money that they didn't spend with the poor, the hurting, the lonely, the hungry, the sick, the thirsty. 
(www.adventconspiracy.org)

Then there is a blog article that Pastor Craig posted with his wife "Shanda's version of Lights Up"  (see below) while Dad e-mailed me this picture of another man's Christmas Lighting.... 

It's can all be very humorous when you look at each item individually, but then you begin to feel your heart twinge when you see everything in the light of God's Word.  All these things are "sideshow distractions" according to the words in The Message paraphrase.

"Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust."   (Pro 4:25-27 MSG)

Are we keeping our eyes straight ahead?  

Are we focused on the "Christ" in "Christmas?  

Are we being barraged with distractions from all sides?  Music, decorations, lights, turkeys, stuffing, presents, want, greed, shopping, early, late, more, less.... 

The word barrage came to me as I was considering a title for this article.  I decided to look it up in the dictionary and "barrage" is described as a "rapid attacking outpouring of something" and "to subject somebody to a relentless onslaught."    All these rapid fire distractions are a tactic of the enemy to take our focus off of where it should be. 

Let's send a rapid fire barrage of our own by declaring that our focus is back on the Reason For The Season.... Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, Child of God, Child of man, King of kings, Lord of lords, Wonderful, Counsellor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Atonement, The Way, The Truth, and The Life, Healer, Saviour, Sanctifier, Servant, Sacrifice, Seated at the Right Hand of The Father and Sovereign, Soon Coming King!

Jesus IS ABLE to smooth out the road before us.  He can and will help us to stay on that narrow path, and He can enable us to withstand any barrage or distraction that the enemy may throw at us!  THANK YOU LORD!!