Besides
getting an electric train, a gigantic teddy bear, and a "Sneaky Pete"
magic set, the thing I remember most about Christmas as a kid was the
spirit of the whole season.
It usually started sometime around the Macy's Parade and lasted until the final needle fell from the tree.
For about six weeks, I would experience real joy and excitement and even a sense
of genuine love.
Then in my junior year of high school, come Thanksgiving time, I didn't notice any change.
K-Mart's decorations had been up since October,
the Sunday school program was history, the Advent candles were burned
to stubs, and all the angel hair was finally vacuumed up. But I hadn't
felt any change!
Gasp! Had I become a Scrooge at the tender age of 16? The next season became a "Ghost of Christmas Past"
and still no change.
Then it dawned on me, as if I had finally found the burned out bulb
on a string of lights. I had been a professing Christian all my life. (I
remember, at 8 years old, asking Jesus into my life while hiding under my
roll-top desk during a lightning storm.) But that was about the extent
of my spiritual journey--exact same lifestyle, exact same attitudes, and
no real Bible reading or prayer life.
In my junior year, I decided to give God 100 percent
of my messed up life. What a change! Real joy, real peace,
real excitement that God was actually working with me
to create a loving person.
No Grinch had stolen my Christmas. I now had the joy and love of
Christ--and Christmas--all year round!
(Check out the hyperlinks above to discover how you can experience
a meaningful Christmas. And feel free to email any comment you may have
about this.)
© copyright 1982 James N. Watkins
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