December 23, 2005
Picture this –
An old man sitting in a huge chair going over a book of names, putting a mark by one, marking through another as if to say that this person is not worthy of what he has to give. The names with marks by them are few and far between. The names struck out are many and almost make the page look black with their unworthiness. The old man creases his brow as he perceives one who has displeased him, yet a smile comes when he marks one who has done great things and is found worthy. The brow creases most of the time but the smiles are worth waiting for. You wonder what the expression will be when he gets to your name. Will he smile or will he frown? There is no way I will get a mark by my name. I could never be good enough for him. No way I would ever be acceptable.
Who does that sound like?
For years I thought it was God!
I had always thought that God just wanted the ones who were the best and he didn’t care about the rest. I never thought I could ever be good enough no matter how I tried. I had known that I was going to hell for eternity no matter how good I was so I didn’t work at being good. I know a lot of people who think that. I have been told more than once by people I know “I don’t want to go to church until I can stop doing the wrong things and be a better person” it is almost as if they don’t want to contaminate the church with their sin.
Now look at the verses of a popular Christmas Song:
You better watch out, You better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list, And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good, So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out! You better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
Doesn’t that sound like the old man in the huge chair!? Picking and choosing the best and not worrying about the rest!
If this is the case why do so many want to please Santa Clause, who is looking for the good ones and will give the bad ones a lump of coal? Why don’t more people want to please God who doesn’t want the best, he wants us all. He wants us all so much that he sent his only son to live like we do, suffer and die for our sins so we don’t have to be the best of the best to be loved by him.
This is what I think – Santa Clause gives physical immediate rewards for being good. Instant satisfaction, something we can see, feel and hold. God Gives eternal salvation. We can live forever in him and with him but we can’t hold it in our hands or see our salvation.
I wasted so much of my life being mad at God for not accepting me for who I was and waiting for a fictional person to give me presents just because I wanted them.
God is Love, he is with you always in all things you do. He suffers when you suffer, he laughs when you laugh, he cries when you cry. He watches you sleep and smiles with a tear in his eye unable to contain the love he has for you just waiting for you to accept what he has to offer every day of your life. That is so much more than a box wrapped in pretty paper once a year.
I choose God because I don’t have to be prefect for Him, I just have to be me and try to do the best I can. And if I slip up once in a while, that’s OK, He still loves me.
So if you slip up and use a word your not supposed to or you do something you aren’t supposed to do, it’s OK. Tell your father and he will hug you, kiss you on the head and love you more because you are his child. I’ll take that over a present in pretty paper under a tree any day.
: 8:16 AM