You can feel it in your team meetings, one on one’s, strategy sessions, and even when you are scheduling appointments. Time is ticking away. Christmas is almost here, your final PTO dates have been approved, and the year is quickly coming to an end.

Some types thrive in the final push to the annual finish line. Some are a ball of nerves. And most of us during this season, live by our lists and are consumed with all that we need to accomplish. We are tempted to put our head down and power through.   

But as Christian leaders this is the exact season in which we need to lift our heads and breathe in the mystery that both grounds and surrounds us. This glorious mystery is the INCARNATION, which literally means embodiment or wrapped in flesh. Eugene Peterson put it this way in his translation of John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” The creator of the universe graciously chose to live locally.  

Enfleshed in this helpless babe is the wisdom of the law, the fulfillment of prophecies, and the mystery of ritual. But he is also “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” (Heb. 1:3a) The invisible, powerful, loving, holy God was wrapped up in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.

Christianity is not just a system of beliefs; it is an embodied faith. This is one of the many things Jesus did and showed us. Work is a prime location to live out this incarnational calling. The people you work with need the gospel with skin on it. So, as we make our final push for 2021, let’s not lose sight of our locale or those around us. May we be renewed and motivated by the mystery of the incarnation and empowered by His Spirit.

Don’t abandon your To-Do list (you need it) but rather, here are a few things to add to it: 

• Begin your day by reciting a phrase from the bible like the ones above or a portion of scripture like Philippians 2:6-8. 
• Change up your playlist. Choose some music outside your usual Christmas go-to’s. Add traditional carols by the Choir of King’s College, or reflective music by The Brilliance, or some instrumental. You will be amazed at how differently the messages of the songs will strike you. 
• Do lunch on purpose. Invite a coworker to lunch. Take a walk. Fast one day. Just bring some intention to your midday break for the last dozen workdays of the year.  
• Light a candle when you get home and pause to remember that Light has truly come into the darkness.

Use these times to reflect on what it feels like to be grounded in the glorious mystery of incarnation, and then use what days we have left in this season to reflect that back onto those who surround you at work. As it says in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”