Play!

Welcome to my Advent Blog!
This is the 2nd of 13 blog posts, and I encourage you to read them in order.

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At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
  -- Matthew 11:25

Yesterday, I asked why God sent Jesus in the form of a child if his ministry came thirty years later. Clearly, Jesus came as example and even in his young life he showed us the importance of being a child of God. This blog is primarily about how we need to find the child-like faith that we once had. Jesus was able to retain his inner child, but as most of us got older we have lost the child in us.   

One thing many adults lose as they get older is the ability to play. I am not talking about playing computer games or even playing tag (although that could be good for us). I am talking more about having a playful spirit. When people play there is a trust element happening, everything is under control. God has got you and you have time to have fun. As Christians, we have a serious mission given to us but that does not mean there isn’t a time to play. A playful attitude in life often shows an absence of worry and despair. There can even be a peace that comes from a good day of play.  

If we are God’s children, we come to Him as children and we can even come to Him to play. This might seem contrary to what many of us think the Church and our faith is about. Do our services, classes, and programs allow for an element of holy play? I am not talking about replacing Sunday worship with a good game of hide-n-seek, even if for a Sunday or two it might be just the thing to help us find our inner child. We need to trust God enough to relax and see God in the fun of life.  

Christmas season is not a time to play for most of adults, even though most kids still think it is. We are too busy prepping for a moment that lasts a day or so. There is season for everything under heaven. Do you prioritize play? Is it in the rotation of activities? Again, it isn’t so much about what you do, it is about the spirit in which you do it. God is in control. Look up to heaven and ask God if He knows a good joke. Lots of us will be hustling and bustling over the next couple weeks, but if you are not careful you might fail to see God’s answer to that joke.                                  

The next blog will be posted Thursday, Dec 5th. Please feel free to comment below.
Pastor Dan