A Lesson Learned

Christmas 2017 is now over, and a New Year has come. All that remain are the leftovers of our sumptuous indulgences, the added inches around our middle, and the memories. For some, the memories are great, for others, not so good. But as I wrote on my other blog, Christmas is, and always has been, the best time of the year for me.

However, this Christmas was a little bit different, as circumstances conspired to keep me from doing some of the things I usually do. I'd made up my mind that I would not enter a store during the busy shopping season. I would simply give everyone a gift card. Not a bad idea, right? But at the last minute, on the day before Christmas Eve, I decided to go and pick up a few things to put under the tree. After all, gift cards don't look as nice as beautifully-wrapped boxes, do they?

So off I went, into an insanely-crowded store, grabbed a few items and waited in line for more than an hour before getting to a counter. And that's when things got really interesting. I should have paid for my stuff and walked out, but instead a men's watch in a locked cabinet had caught my eye. I told the cashier I wanted to get it. I left my stuff on the counter and followed the man to the cabinet where I showed him the watch I wanted for my husband. When we got back to the counter, all my stuff was gone! Vanished! I left with two items, a bad case of frustration, and a back screaming for mercy.

On my way home, I berated myself for getting caught up in something I had no business being in. I'm not saying I shouldn't have bought presents for my loved ones, but would they have loved me less if I hadn't? I don't think so. They are used to me giving them stuff, not only at Christmas but all through the year.

Love cannot be bought with things. God's gift to us was not things, but a Person in the form of His Son Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that all who believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3: 16

Spending time with my loved ones and sharing the love of Jesus with them is far more important than any amount of toys or baubles I could have bought.

And so, my friends, maybe that’s the reason I got sick on Christmas Day. I came down with a nasty case of the flu – runny nose, sneezing and headache. Was God trying to teach me a lesson? I don't know, but I think I learned something. At least for this year. God bless.

Happy New Year!


If you enjoyed this post, please share with your friends and sign up for my mailing list where you can get updates on special offers and giveaways.

Christmas: A Time For Reconcilation

 May I tell you a story?

Long, long ago, God decided to make man in His own image and likeness. Then He brought a woman to the man and told them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. The man and woman were very happy, living in the garden that God had prepared for them and playing with the animals.

Then one day, Satan entered the garden in the form of a serpent and tempted the woman to eat of the fruit that God had commanded them not to eat.   The woman succumbed to the temptation and ate the fruit. She liked the taste and convinced her husband to eat of it also. From that moment, the union between God and man was broken. Sin, sickness and death entered the world and the world became corrupt.

God was not happy. He loved His children and wanted them to be close to Him always. But God knew this day would come and He’d already catered for it. He would send His only begotten Son Jesus Christ into the world to reconcile us back to Him.

And that's the story of Christmas.

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.John 3: 16

But Jesus didn't come to earth just to reconcile us back to God. He also came to reconcile us to each other.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.Colossians 1: 19 - 20 

Jesus lived and died here on earth that we might be reconciled to each other - Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, black and white. 

 

Christmas is a time for miracles. Jesus’s birth was a miracle, as was His life and death. If you have been separated from a close family member, it doesn’t matter how long, why not let the Christ of Christmas who came into this world to reconcile us back to God and to each other help you to reconcile with your loved ones?

Miracles do come through.

Have a merry Christmas.

Are you looking for creative ways to share the Christmas story with your children or grandchildren? Here are some suggestions from a previous post that will make it easy and fun.