For a
Bah-humbug person like me, thinking of Christmas so soon after Thanksgiving
does not make any sense at all. Except that, in an out-of-character burst of
planning-ahead, I suddenly felt the need to be fully prepared to tell people about the
Christ of Christmas. The fact is, no matter what anyone thinks of the Christmas
season, Jesus is the “Christ” who gives meaning to life.
It all began
with my morning prayer-journaling through the word of God. Whatever
it was I started with, I soon found myself feeling a sense of desperation to
take every opportunity to tell people about Jesus. Once that first thought hit,
the rest came in phases, like a light bulb becoming brighter as the dimmer-switch
turned from one setting to the next.[1]
Soon into this
prayerful interaction with God, I thought about how to make a personal
Christmas card that my wife and I could send out with a summary explanation of
the gospel, Christmas-style. We know enough people that there had
to be some way to make the most of the upcoming opportunities.
From that
consideration, I realized that whatever I wanted to write briefly in a
Christmas card could easily be turned into a Christmas tract that our home
church could use as God gives opportunity. I have done this before
on other themes and topics, so this was an exciting idea to imagine where I
could go with this.
Expanding from
a Christmas card to a Christmas tract built the momentum so that I realized
this had wonderful potential for Pings, Pongs,[2]
and Ponderings, perhaps in a whole series of Joy-to-the-World messages. There is certainly enough joy to share all throughout the year, and, with all
the joyless things going on in the world, who knows how much the joy of Jesus
will need to be shared by the time Christmas really does roll around.
Which, of
course, leads to the possibility of an ebooklet that would serve one purpose,
while giving a link that could be included in a Christmas card or tract. Even
though I have no experience in this department, the thought of sharing this
good news even further than my present social circle seems rather exciting. There
is even room to develop the same good news about Christmas into an ebook for
children, and one for an older readership. Sounds wonderful.
So, yes, that
is what happens to me some mornings. While my time with God is sometimes mostly
about what God is giving me through his word as I abide in him, there are other times when it is
mostly about passing on what I have been given in the hope that others will
benefit for their joy.
I do not know
what will come of this. I may find that my childish enthusiasm for good ideas
got the best of me and God has to tweak my mind until mine and his are on the
same page, so to speak. Or I may find that my childlike desire to tell people about
my big Brother is something God is working in me "both to will and to work
for his good pleasure."[3]
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What I know
for sure is that, there is so much good news to share, that it isn’t that
strange at all that our recent Thanksgiving weekend would propel my thoughts into the
upcoming Christmas season. It isn’t really about the holidays and seasons that
come and go. It’s all about Jesus. After all, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”[4]
Christmas is just a good time to tell people about this light, and that means
finding as many ways as possible to let my lil’ ol’ light shine.
“Joy to the world, the Lord has come!”[5]
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, Canada, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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