For those hoping for a Christmas message, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no shortage of great Christmas messages out there right now. See? We’re going in a slightly different direction.
When Norm Peterson was asked “How’s the world treating you, Norm?” he came back with “Like a baby treats a diaper”. The sad truth is that few, if any of us are anywhere near as honest. I hope you won’t tak
e offense to this, but I am not a fan of the phrases, “how are you?” or “how’s it going?” It’s a personal hangup of mine I guess, but I feel like most of the time when we ask people how they are, they are expected to reply with either “fine” or “pretty good”. If they don’t, we get electrocuted.
What good is that? If we are going to ask someone how they are, we should really want the truth. Do we want the truth? Do we, when asked, really want to share how we are doing? Would I tell you that I have felt lonely, desperate, confused, and hurt at different times in recent months? I don’t think my life is characterized by negativity, but it shows up now and then. When that happens, where do I go? Who do I call? Certainly, Jesus is my #1 comfort, and I should cast my cares on Him daily. But I also know we were created for each other, and He has designed us to “Carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).
Here’s my Holiday dare for all of us: Can we pick up the phone or get in touch with 3 people you don’t see all the time? Can we reach out to these people, just to tell them that we are thinking of them and that we love them? Can we open/reopen the door to a relationship that has fallen away, to allow God to use us to be an encouragement to His children? Maybe we’ll be just an encouragement, that’s definitely a good thing. But maybe He’ll open the door to something even deeper. We’ll never know if we don’t act. Maybe Christmastime gives us the perfect excuse to do it.
I’m in. How about you?