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About the Writer:
Joanne
Sampl
Joanne Sampl

With grown step-children, college age sons and a self-employed husband, Joanne offers her time to God and to others. Her interest in writing and communications brought her back to college as an adult and through several reinventions of her own business and ministries. With time on her hands, she writes about God and life.

 

 

Holiday Nibbles

By Joanne Sampl

There’s something about the thirty or so days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are almost always loaded with more fat, calories, butter and sugar than any other time of the year. It’s difficult to go Christmas shopping for others and not be tempted to pick up a pair or two of roomier jeans for myself while I’m out. After all, shopping doesn’t always mean I burn off the mountain-sized caloric intake of all the Christmas cookies and bread, lunches out during the frequent shopping excursion, or even the tasty snack samples in the stores while I push my already too heavy cart down the aisles. If I’m not careful, I can nibble myself into the New Year with a lot more need for a January diet plan.

If one cookie can lead to another, can one bible verse lead to another?

Can I nibble my way into a feast on the Word of God or do I starve myself with tiny morsels of truth in between my extended episodes of busyness? Do I take time to sit at the banquet table my Lord has laid out for me, with plenty of life-changing treats throughout the nourishing meal? Do I push away from His Table with just a nibble in my heart instead of a fully-satisfied soul enriched by time alone with my Lord?

I’ve been working through two bible studies this fall. One of them started on a break right before Thanksgiving, and the other one takes a break starting next week. I keep thinking how much more I need the consistency and the accountability of these studies to keep me in the Word through the holidays. When traditions, expectations and even disillusionments can distract me from the real meaning of Christmas, how can I stay energized by His Word?

Just like eating the cookies, I guess. I can’t have just one… bible verse.

 

 

 

Copyright © December 5, 2006 – Joanne Sampl. All rights reserved.

 

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