|
Sometimes we get so caught up in the hectic pace of busyness of Christmas that we miss the message, and we get our priorities mixed up. The late cartoonist Charles Schulz underscored this truth in one of his classic "Peanuts" comic strips. In the strip, little Sally is lying on a bean bag chair, watching television. Linus is reading to her from a book about the real meaning of Christmas, "Listen to this, Sally," says Linus. "The census which brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem is said to have been of all the world, but this probably really means only the Roman Empire of that time. And when we read that there was no room in the inn," Linus continues, "the word inn is better translated as guest room. The intention, of course, is to contrast a place of human lodging with a place for feeding animals." And look at this, "Linus says. The name Bethlehem is interesting, too! It literally mean House of Bread. I think things like this are so fascinating! What do you think, Sally?" And Sally replies, "I think if I don't get every single thing I want for Christmas this year, I am gonna totally gross out!"
Friend of Dial Hope, well can you relate to this? The question is, how do we can ourselves from falling into "the Sally trap?" How do we find the true meaning of Christmas? One way is to go with the shepards to Bethlehem to "see this thing that has happened " (Luke 2:15). And when we revisit the birth of the Christ Child in the spirit of humility and expectancy, we will see clearly three things:
the miracle of faith,
the miracle of hope,
the miracle of love!
Prayer: The bells of Christmas ring in our ears, O Lord, even as your love rings true in our hearts. For unto us a child is born and our barren lives are filled with great joy! How Great Thou Art! We pray, not only for the men and women serving our country in far away places, we pray for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. We prey that peace will come and there will be war no more. In Jesus name Amen. |
