Tuesday, December 18, 2007

A "Road to Bethlehem" Encounter

During the past couple of days, I have some interesting encounters with the "fat man in the red suit." The first meeting with Santa Claus came Sunday night following our church's Youth and Children's Christmas production.

Santa was there to have his photo made with the kids. You should have seen the look on each child's face as they waited for a chance to sit on Kris Kringle's lap. Some kids were about to explode with excitement, while others looked intimidated by this "Christmas Icon."

My next "Santa" moment came when I was typing up local letters to St. Nick for the newspaper. Each year we publish these letters in our last edition before Christmas. While the kids were all quick to ask for their favorite present, they also expressed their love. From a simple, "I love you Santa," to many hearts drawn on the page, these kids were serious about their devotion.

A close friend of mine told me how her grandson "really, really believes" in Santa Claus. This faith was strengthened when a chimney sweep brought a torn piece of red cloth to him and said he found it in the chimney. "You found part of Santa's suit in there!" the youngster exclaimed.

Kids all over the globe are doing their best to be on their best behavior these final days before Christmas. They don't want Santa to pass by their house.

Each of these encounters reminded me of Jesus. Or should I say, how we should be thinking of Jesus. If you took the time to re-read the preceding paragraphs and replaced the word "Santa" with "Jesus," you would see what I mean.

We should all be serious in our devotion to the King of kings and Lord of Lords. We should "really, really believe" in Jesus. We should be on our best behavior so that He doesn't pass us by.

The Bible says we should all have a "child-like" faith. We certainly see a great example through the faith kids have in Santa. We should teach them to have such faith in the One whose birthday is celebrated at this time of year.




May the Blog Be With You. And Merry Christmas

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