Welcome to the End (of the year)!

Mrs. Smith:

Well this is the last month of the year and most people are thinking about Christmas and the hustle and bustle of gifts and money. All I can think about this year is how blessed I am. This has a been a wonderful year and it is all thanks to our one and only Lord and Savior. He sent his one and only begotten son so that we may live. How wonderful a story is that? May God bless you.

My verse for this week is:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

The Vengeance:

Ah December. The seasonal chill. The end of the year rush to put ourselves into debt. The love and caring of family and friends. Reaching out in other people's time of need. Chinsey gifts and christmas tree fires.

What? Wait a second... that means.... yeah. IT'S NOT REALLY THAT GREAT!!!!!!!

We're running out of time, we're running out of money, all we do is want want want, spend spend spend and waste waste waste. And if you're wondering what's missing, then good job. You're a better man (woman, child) than most.

Many Christians every year try in vain to put Christmas into a "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" light. Yet time and time again it gets away from us.

Every Christmas eve we flock to the nearest cathedral, light some candles and listen to the one story of Christ that EVERYONE on EARTH has ALREADY HEARD.

Does anyone take it to heart? Does it give YOU warm fuzzies? Make you feel a little bit like a better person. For me it really doesn't. In the horrible flurry that is the holidays, I congratulate myself if I remember to give God a wave out the window as I drive by at eighty miles an hour.

It's the season of Giving and I haven't given Him anything I think He'd like. It's almost like my father. Every year, for eons, I've given him funny gifts and gag gifts every year, hoping to at least get a laugh, even if he could never use it. This year I couldn't take it anymore.

I HAD to get my dad something he'd truely love. Unfortunately I couldn't very well afford to get him a hummer or a gigantic robot. Those are things he really likes. And I can't afford them. I've only got so much money, and he likes such big, amazing things!

But eventually, because I really thought about it, because this year it was really, really high on my list of priorities, I finally got him a couple of small, fairly inexpensive things that I'm almost certain he'll love! (what I dare not say for fear he reads this and finds out!!)

Maybe God is the same way. I'll bet, if I spend some time thinking about it and looking into things, I can find something within my budget that will bless my heavenly father. One might think the Allmighty is awfully tough to shop for. Doesn't he want world peace and for us to take care of all his hungry and hurting? I can't afford that.

But I'm certain I can find something a bit smaller that will still be meaningful to him. And I most certainly will try! Because I want to do something special for Him this year.

That is something I think would be well worth doing in this season. Not a special service (although it's always good to remember!), not a life-size, light-up nativity scene in my front yard, but a gift. I can't beat what He gave me. But that doesn't mean that I can't bless him all the same.