Thought for 13 December

 Thought for Monday 13 December

Luke 2:10-11.

“…I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” 

 

A few days ago, I was reading about a Pastor in America who went to a new post and was horrified to find that Santa Claus visited the Sunday school Christmas party. He spent time trying to work out how he could stop this ritual because of its pagan origins.

This got me thinking about the parallels with the Christmas story so I visited my friend (the internet) and found ways that Santa can be used to point to God and His son Jesus.

. Santa is a joyful giver ruling benevolently from the North Pole -- God is a gracious giver ruling benevolently from Heaven. 
. Santa reads all the mail sent to him by children of the world, then tailor-makes gifts for each child -- God listens to every prayer sent to Him by His earthly children, then tailor-makes blessings for the individual needs of each. 
. Santa has elfin helpers working towards his goals -- God has elect angels working tirelessly for His glory. 
. The Christmas tree is where wonderful gifts can be found --The Tree of Christ (the Cross) is where the incomparable gift of eternal salvation can be found. 
. Children who are nice or naughty will have their Christmas stocking filled either with presents or with coal -- Likewise, whether we follow God’s plan or our own determines if our lives will be filled with blessing or with self-inflicted-curses.

Just as children know the rules about behaving for Santa, in case they get coal, so do we know the rules about how we should behave, in case we get to spend eternity shut off from God and His Son Jesus.

Every day should be Christmas for the Christian.  We have been given the ultimate Christmas gift – Eternal Salvation.  It is the incomparable gift from God that just needs to be accepted, not something we can earn (Eph. 2:8-9).

We should be sharing the gift from God by telling people about the birth of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Gracious Father, we are approaching the celebration of the birth of Your Son Jesus Christ so many years ago. Thank you for this most precious gift of all time. Help us to find opportunities to tell the Good News, not only of His birth but also the reason He was born at all.

 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16     Amen.