What Would Jesus Do this Holiday Season?
Every great hitter has an approach when they step into the batter’s box.
Just last night, me and Asher were watching the ESPN series, The Captain, where Derek Jeter briefly commented on his approach. Jeter said simply, “I look for a fastball right down the middle and then just adjust to anything else.”
A good approach is empowering. It gives you a specific goal and focus. It allows you to take some control over your situation. If you step into the batter’s box without an approach, good luck. You will quickly find yourself just trying to react to everything that is thrown at you. You will easily get frustrated, and the at-bat will likely not turn out the way you hoped it would go.
That being said, as we get ready to step into this holiday season, I think it would be helpful for us to have an approach for that as well.
For many people, the holiday season can be frustrating and too often fails to turn out the way that they hoped it would go. It’s easy for people to find themselves in a situation where they are just trying to react to everything that is being thrown at them. They had expectations for how it was going to go, but what they really needed was an approach.
Even for me, I really love the extra time that I get to spend with my family and my wife’s side of the family. We have been blessed with wonderful family. But there’s a large number of us that are gathered together at Thanksgiving, and so a side of chaos is always on the menu. If I’m going to have a successful holiday season, I need an approach too.
So here’s what I’m trying to keep at the forefront of my mind as I enter into this week. This is my current approach…
Before I enter into this time, I’m asking myself this question:
“What would Jesus do if he were me?”
If Jesus was married to my wife, was the father of my kids, had my family and my wife’s family as his immediate family, and was going to be a part of the Thanksgiving meal that I’m going to be a part of… what would that look like? How would he do it?
And as I think about how he might do it and how he might spend that time and the types of conversations that he would be having, I’m going to try my best to go and do likewise.
And then based off that question, here’s a vision that I have in my mind:
When it was time to sit down at the table, at what would be Jesus’ last holiday meal with those closest to him, he got up from the table, grabbed a towel and a bucket of water and took on the role of a servant. One by one, before eating his warm plate of food, he considered the interests of others above his own interests and washed his disciples’ feet. He didn’t go into that holiday meal looking to be served but rather to serve and to give his time, attention and energy to those around him — including the one who had already betrayed him.
Think about that.
At his last holiday meal here on earth, Jesus washed Judas’ feet.
That’s right.
Judas’ feet.
Think about that.
That sets the bar pretty high doesn’t it?
And so, I’m trying to let that vision spark my imagination and inform my mindset going into this week. Hopefully you might find this helpful for you too.
I am so thankful that I have a wonderful family to spend this holiday season with, and I’m looking forward to this time together. I also know that there are some of you who do not feel the same way about the situation you will find yourself in this week. Either way, whether this week is full of excitement or a ton of anxiety, we all need an approach to navigating the holiday season well.
What would Jesus do if he were you this week?
Now let’s go and do likewise.
