Slowing Your Heart on Christmas Eve

A dad looks around his living room on Christmas Eve and

realizes everyone is home, but no one's actually there. The TV

is on in the background, phones are glowing in hands and laps,

and even in the middle of carols and twinkle lights, his family

is half inside their screens. Author Andy Crouch began to

notice moments like that in his own home, on ordinary nights and

on holy days like Christmas, when constant technology quietly

pulled their hearts away from being truly present with God and

with each other. In a season that's supposed to be about

Emmanuel, God with us, why would a family choose to turn things

off when everything around them says, capture it, post it, and

stay connected?

Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger, and

on this Christmas Eve, we're talking about something that all

of us feel, especially today, hurry. Not just a busy schedule,

but a hurried heart. And you know what it feels like.

Last-minute gifts, food in the oven, people arriving, group

text dinging, there are photos to take, and, for many people,

services to attend. On the outside, it looks beautiful.

There are lights, Christmas music, and family. But on the

inside, you can feel scattered and out of sorts. It's easy to

reach the end of Christmas Eve, realizing you've been reacting

all day and hardly made room to just be with Jesus. Listen to

Luke 2, 15-19. When the angels returned to heaven, the

shepherds said to each other, Let's go to Bethlehem. Let's see

this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there

was the baby, lying in a manger. After seeing him, the shepherds

told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to

them about this child. All who heard the shepherds' story were

astonished. But Mary kept all these things in her heart and

thought about them often. I love that scene. The shepherds, hurry

to Jesus. But that's a good kind of hurry. They can't wait to see

what God has done. They worship, and then they tell others.

There's excitement. They're moving, and there's joy. But

then, the camera shifts to Mary. While everyone else is

astonished and talking and maybe buzzing with the news, Mary kept

all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

She makes space to ponder, to let the reality of Jesus sink in.

And that's the tension of Christmas Eve, isn't it? There

are so many things to do. And like the shepherds, there's

movement and celebration, and there's people all around. But

somewhere in all of it, God invites us to do what Mary did,

to keep these things in our hearts, to slow down long enough

to actually think about what's happening, that God has come

near, and that Jesus really is Emmanuel, God with us. The truth

is, hurry doesn't just make you tired, it can make you

spiritually dull. Our phones, especially on days like this,

can quietly keep us in reaction mode. There are alerts, and

there are photos, and messages, and, oh, I'll just check one

more time. And then they pull our attention a little bit away

from the room we're in, and from the people we love. And yes,

even from the Savior whose birth we're celebrating. Most of us

start the day, and the evening, reacting. Reacting to

notifications and messages, and it can get to be just noise.

It's easy to have a full house and a full schedule, but an

empty soul. Christmas Eve can slip by that way if we're not

careful. But little practices can reorient an entire life.

What happens when, just for a few minutes, you step off the

treadmill, when the first few quiet moments of Christmas Eve

belong to Jesus and not your timeline? of letting hurry and

screens run their holidays, Andy's family chose to become

tech-wise, not anti-phone, but pro-presence.

Little practices like that, he says. Let's help us start to

retrain our attention toward Christ and help us actually show

up for the people in front of us. When you set the phone aside and

give even a few unhurried minutes to Scripture and quiet

prayer on Christmas Eve, you're stepping off the treadmill of

hurry so your heart can really receive Jesus, not just rush

past Him. You don't have to overhaul your whole Christmas to

do this. It can be very small and very simple. Maybe tonight,

you put everyone's phones on the shelf for just 15 minutes. You

gather whoever's willing, maybe it's the whole family, and you

read Luke 2 out loud. You thank God in plain language for

sending Jesus. Then, you sit in a little bit of quiet and let

the reality of God with us wash over you. It's not about

creating a perfect Hallmark moment. It's not about getting

everyone to feel something dramatic. It's simply about

giving Jesus a few undivided minutes in a night that can

easily fill up with everything else. Here's today's Christmas

Eve challenge. Sometime this evening before bed, Choose one

small window of time, 10 or 15 minutes, where the phone is out

of reach and the TV is off and your attention is not divided.

read Luke 2, 1-20, or just verses 15-19. Then, in your own

words, say, Lord Jesus, thank you for coming. Help my heart

slow down enough to really receive you tonight. And if

you're with family or friends, invite them in. If you're alone

this Christmas, know that you're not truly alone. Emmanuel is

with you. Either way, those few unhurried minutes can become

your way of saying,

Lord Jesus, on this Christmas Eve, our lives and our hearts

can get so hurried. Would you help us slow down? Give us the

courage to set our phones aside and to quiet the noise. And help

us to make some real space for you. As we read your word and

whisper our prayers, let our hearts truly receive you again

as Emmanuel, God with us. In Jesus' name, amen. If this

Christmas Eve episode encouraged you, would you share it with

someone you care about? Just copy the link in the show notes

and send it their way. You never know how much they might need a

quiet reminder to slow their heart tonight. Thanks for

joining me today on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.

Remember, you don't have to stay on the treadmill of hurry this

Christmas Eve. Put the phone down, open the scripture, and

let your heart rest in Jesus. Come back next time for more

encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth. Until

then, God bless and have a Merry Christmas.