Santa Claus is Coming!

There is a holiday coming. It’s a pretty big deal. Everybody gives and gets presents. A retailer recently told me that over half of her sales occur in the last 6 weeks of the year.

There are hundreds of movies about this holiday. My favorite is “The Christmas Gift” with John Denver. Almost all of these movies will ask the same 2 questions…….”Do you believe in Santa Claus?” and “will you find love?”

Sadly almost none will ask the question, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ?”

Odd…….for a holiday called Christmas.

Ironic ………when you consider that Jesus is the source of both the greatest gift and the greatest love that humanity has ever encountered.

I still get a little thrill when I hear one of the old Christmas songs like “The First Noel”. What makes me sad is that my children and grandchildren will never know that. For them, Christmas is just a day when you get lots of presents………no more. By new years, the thrill is gone and it’s back to business as usual.

I think that this is a symptom of the shift in our culture from Christianity to secular humanism. This shift has been encouraged by a small group of committed atheists and their lawyers……..by Hollywood and the media elites……..by our colleges and universities. The disagreements between Christians and the LGBTQ community haven’t helped.

Ultimately, though, each of us is individually responsible. Each of us will be individually judged……..for the things that we do……….for the things that we don’t do……..and likely for the things that we tolerate.

Ultimately, it all comes down to my priorities……..and yours.
Which comes first……..what I want……..or what God wants?

Secular humanism tells me that what I want is all that there is.

God has expectations that often lead me in a different direction. God often expects me to act beyond my immediate appetites.

The only valid argument for choosing “what I want”……..is that God doesn’t exist. And yet if you honestly search your heart…….if you accept the reality that there are things beyond what current science can explain……….you can sense his presence.

You know in your heart the validity of his law……..Love God & Love your Neighbor.

On the other hand you should be sceptical of a moral framework that always tells you that whatever you want………..is right.

This choice of priorities is the most important decision that you will ever make. It is a choice with eternal consequences. In a way, it is a choice between Santa Claus with his bag full of toys………..and God with his law of love.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul, NIV