Many people – or at least the singer Andy Williams and his fans! – think the weeks leading up are the “most wonderful time of the year.” While there is no song about it, I suspect that many of us feel like the week in between Christmas and New Year’s Day is the weirdest time of the year. The day of the week for each of these holidays changes year-to-year, and we might only go back to work for a day or two before having more time off; those things can make it tough to know what day of the week it is! Families enjoy the break from school to do things together, but parents are also looking forward to the kids going back to school. We usually start using and enjoying the gifts we received, but it may also cause us to see a need to get things to complement what we now have. We might also want to go out and use gift cards or purchase things that we really wanted or needed. There is this general sense that what we have spent much time looking forward to has come and gone with our Christmas celebrations, and our eyes turn to the future and what we hope to see happening in the new year. 

I recently realized that this week may be weird, but it may be a perfect picture of what life is always like for Christians since we live in the time between Jesus’s arrival and Jesus’s return. What God’s people spent much time waiting for has arrived through Jesus’s ministry on earth. Yet we also look ahead in anticipation of something new and better at his return.

While we might not know what to do in the week between Christmas and New Years Day, we have much instruction on what to do between Christ’s coming to earth and the new heavens and new earth that comes at his return – basically all the instructions and commands of the New Testament! In light of that reality, I can really only scratch the surface of what the Bible says about living in the time between Christmas and the new heavens and new earth in this post, but I want to highlight two ideas that came to mind as I reflected upon various texts: the need to remember and enjoy what we have received as well as consider and anticipate what awaits.

Remembering and Enjoying What We Have Received
It is probably not surprising to hear that a common gift in my home are books. The noise of celebrating Christmas thus quickly fades into the quiet of readers enjoying their new books. In this time between Jesus’s arrival and his return, we should also enjoy the gifts that he has brought us in the present. And there are many gifts that he brings.

We should rejoice and experience the forgiveness of sins that he has brought through coming to live, die, and rise for us. This gift allows us to forgive others rather than holding grudges; the gift of Christmas is not just a rescue from guilt but also a rescue from bitterness. Being reconciled with God means we can be reconciled with others, and we have a ministry of reconciliation, being peacemakers in our communities and inviting people to be reconciled to God.

Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us in righteousness, so we should rejoice and remember this gift that leads us to know the truth and then to walk in the truth rather than the lies of the evil one. When we speak the truth, even when tempted to lie, we are living into the gift that Jesus has brought. When we are generous with what we have instead of hoarding it or ruthlessly pursuing getting more, we are following the Spirit’s lead. When we are people who build others up instead of tearing them down and when we use our skills and abilities to help others become more like Christ instead of seeking our own glory, we demonstrate the Spirit’s work in us and thus the gift that we have through Christ.

Jesus came to make a new community, not just calling us to know him but also to be connected with others who know him and who share in the gifts that he has brought. We thus live into the “Christmas spirit” when we gather with others who know him, both in larger gatherings like weekly worship gatherings and in smaller groups – which may be formal (e.g., Bible studies, small groups) or informal (e.g., Christian friends hanging out to encourage each other in their walk with Jesus). 

Considering and Anticipating What Awaits
At the same time that we rejoice in what we have received and use it, it is also good for us to remember the reality that we have yet to open all the gifts that come through Jesus; some await the day of his return when our bodies are raised and sin and death are defeated. There are things that we desire that can never be under the tree: reunion with loved ones, complete relief from ailments, peace and justice in this world. We aren’t able to enjoy them now, but the celebration of Christmas reminds us that they are coming, and the dawn of the new year reminds us of the coming change that awaits; we are not able to know the date on which that changes comes, but we can live in confidence it will happen in light of the gifts we receive at Christmas. Therefore, instead of being disappointed with what we see in this world or what we have not yet received, we can walk with confidence in the face of difficulty knowing that this is not all that there is and the best is yet to come.

Just as we pause to think about what the new year could hold and what we should do in light of that, we should regularly pause to remember what the new heavens and earth will be like and to live in light of that reality. This means that we remember the temporary nature of the things that we experience – both good and bad – while on this earth. This means that we live in ways that might be out of step with this world but in step with the world that is to come. Those ideas not only can shape our hopes and dreams for the new year, but also the goals that we make and the choices that characterize us. Above all, we remember that we are not just waiting for something else to happen but are preparing for it each day – and inviting others to be ready for it too.

Conclusion: Making the Most of the Time “In-Between”
While the time between Christmas and New Year’s is once again coming to an end, we will continue to live in the time in between Christ’s coming and his return. Let us continue to enjoy the gifts that Jesus brought through his time on earth while we anticipate the joy that still awaits and will be experienced at his return. 

Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@WeAreFaith.org. You can also email to be added to the list that receives weekly emails with our blog posts.