It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of the year again, but it is undoubtedly here.  The evidence is not just on the calendar.  Take a look around.  People behave differently as the year comes to a close.  A simple study of human behavior is all that is needed for one to know 2009 is undeniably ending.

At the end of the year people give each other gifts.  It’s a stressful time, to be sure, but despite jammed shopping malls and tight budgets, we manage to buy a few things for others.

People think less about themselves and more about others at the end of the year.  Reporters on television focus more on people’s lives and less on cold facts and political strategies.  We count our blessings and say a prayer for those who are not as fortunate.  Some volunteer to work in soup kitchens, nursing homes, hospitals, and homeless shelters.  A greater sense of communion exists as the days grow shorter in December.

At the end of the year people take time off from work.  They change their routines and slow things down.  Businesses close for a few days.  Most of us get a chance to catch our breath.  We think about things besides schedules, tasks, and deadlines.

At the end of the year most of us gather together with our families.  We renew old acquaintances and talk about how much the kids have grown.  We enjoy holiday traditions and big meals.

Believers are more likely to go to worship during the holidays.  It is true that this is due to a mistaken impression that God expects us to uphold Christmas as a religious holiday.  Still, it is better for people to go to church than to stay home.  Some families might visit a congregation for the first time during the holidays and decide to keep coming because they received a good first impression.

At the end of the year we reflect on our mistakes.  We plan to do better.  We make New Year’s resolutions.  It is not just a time for looking outward to our families and those in need, but it is also a period of reflection, when we look inward and seek ways to improve our performance in life.

This time of the year we act a little more like God.  For God gives gifts (2 Cor. 9:15) and loves others by putting their welfare before his own (Jn. 3:16).  He knows the value of rest (Gen. 2:1-3).  He values fellowship with his family (Rom. 8:15-17).  He may not worship, seeing as how there is no one above him to revere, but he desires our praise (Ps. 84:4; Hag. 1:8).  He has never sinned, but he encourages us to leave our sins through the power of his Son and lead purer lives (1 Pet. 1:15-16, 22).  Paul instructed us to “be imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1).  At the end of the year we try a little harder to obey his command.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  May God bless you with joy at the end of this year and blessings as we begin a new one.