Christmas. It's a grand time of year. I wish I was a little kid again every time it rolls around. I loved Christmas as a child. I didn't have a clue how Santa did it, I just believed. As I got older, my belief in Santa changed somewhat, but I still believed. I had it all figured out too, you know, how did he get to every child's house in a 24 hour span? The secret, his elves were disguised as truck drivers! I really believed that! My dad owned a trucking company and so that helped me to come up with my conclusion. Well, that theory lasted a year or two. Then the awful truth finally caught up with me, Santa was my Mama! Dad helped, but Mama did all the sneaky stuff. The great hoax was over. Santa was not real. I have always wondered since then if it is OK to pretend that Santa is real? Especially when I had children of my own. I went along with it, I didn't want to ruin their excitement! Well, Santa isn't real, but the spirit of Christmas is alive. People helping people, giving of their time and resources, reaching out to the needy. Christmas. Christ-mas. It took a long time for me to understand the real meaning of Christmas. Oh I wish I could go back and do it again now that I understand! If I only had faith in Christ as I had in Santa, my life would have been so much better for it. That's exactly what Jesus was referring to in the Bible. In Matthew 8:2-4, " Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. Then he said, "I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven." And in John 1:12, "But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God."
Like a child, just believe in and receive Christ! Simple, yet profound. I became "as a child" 11 years ago. Not knowing everything, and still don't, I simply believed in Jesus as the Son of God, that He was born to a virgin, lived a sinless life, died upon a cruel cross as payment for my sins, then was buried, and three days later came back to life to prove He was exactly who He said He was, the Son of God. (see I Cor. 15:3-4)
Since that day, 11 years ago, Christmas has a whole new meaning for me. I know the Christ in Christmas! Santa was a hoax, Christ is Hope. He's the Real Deal. Everyday 'in Christ' is Christmas to a believer. Sadly, most of the world only has 'christmas' once a year. I like to say "Merry Christmas 24/7/365" You can have that too!
