Christmas is over, and we’re onto 2017. We have resolutions, new beginnings, and to my dismay, the winter blues. After all the holidays are over with, haven’t you ever noticed that our cheerful spirit has disappeared? For about a month we all fall in love with the holiday season and our mindset and our attitudes reflect this beautiful Christmas cheer. This feeling fills us with incredible joy and happiness, yet as soon as New Years is over with, this lost hope settles within us. It’s this complaint about “what now” that bothers me.

Why does it bother me?

We were once rejoicing in the birth of our Lord during this wonderful holiday season, and now we’ve stopped. Is it because there are no more holidays to look forward to after New Years? Is it because the bitter coldness of winter and our soon failed New Years resolutions make us feel even worse? Why do we need to stop? Why do we feel like Christmas-time is the only time for praising the birth of Jesus? Why do we forget?

I don’t have an answer to that. I don’t know why we stop because I think God’s gift to us is the greatest gift we’ve ever received, and that should go beyond praising for a month or so. We should challenge ourselves to continue to keep this “cheer” present for as long as possible.

No I’m not saying we should keep our Christmas lights up till the middle of July. All I’m saying is that we should not only have this “cheer” for the birth of our Lord during the holiday season, but we should continuously remind ourselves how blessed we are that Jesus was born. Without him, we wouldn’t have been saved.