Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The Bestest Christmas is still to Come! - December 15, 2009

Good Tuesday morning! Whoohoo, ten days to Christmas! Even old Scrooge admitted that Christmas had arrived late on Christmas eve. We who look forward to the celebration of Christ's birth have a much greater anticipation. I remember the anticipation from years and years... that makes me look kind of old, perhaps just a few years back. Some years were filled with a lot of work as we endured long days in an effort to fulfill a little Christmas joy for many other folks at the distribution center. However, even those days had their rewards in the form of overtime pay and the arrival of the days just before Christmas when the shipping was done. In looking back at things this morning, I am often struck by how I tend to emphasize the bad when I feel anxious. Simply turning it around a bit and remembering the good things can lift my mood right up closer to God; where it should be!

Memories can be good or bad, not so much from what happened, but by what we remember of the events and what light we shed upon them. All of us have traumatic, painful, and embarrassing or joyful, wonderful, and educational memories to look back on. Often all of those qualities rest in the same memories; strange as that may seem to us. When we give our lives to Jesus and the Holy Spirit arrives in his new heart home, the light begins to shine on some old memories that might at first be painful or humiliating. Those memories do not have to remain that way though. What did you learn from that time back then? Most of all, remember that you are forgiven!

Christmas brings out the good memories for us in a big way. We often look back fondly on the Christmas times of our childhood, but there is a day much better on the way. All of our bestest (bestest?) Christmas memories will pale when compared to the second coming of our Lord Jesus! Of course they will; what better to trump our celebrations of Christ's birth than to have Him come again? Praise the Lord for the coming day!

Merry Christmas in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

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