It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... to some!?!

“It’s beginning to look a lot like …” or so the song goes. It appears that the decorations are going up earlier every year. It does appear that the stores are putting up their displays of seasonal merchandise by mid-summer or even earlier. Or, is it just my imagination because I can remember my mother in the 1950’s saying the same things that I am saying today.

Overheard recently … “I guess that eventually we will be in the holiday mode all year long.” Hmmm, would that be so bad?

Many years ago, in the College Park sub-division of Tampa, I heard about a lady who keeps her Christmas decorations up and turned on year round. This dear soul can be seen most afternoons and evenings in her rocking chair, in a Mrs. Claus suit, waving to the people as the pass her home and passing out candy to all the children.

She was asked once why she didn’t take the “stuff” down. Was it just too much trouble to take it down and then put it up again? Her reply, “No, sir, Christmas is just about celebrating the best gift ever given, Jesus Christ.”

I believe that she has it correct! She has chosen her own unique “style” in order to spread the glorious news of the great celebration called Christmas.

In Tampa Tribune interviewer asked how long she was going to continue her “unique” tradition of year-round Christmas decorations. Her response was great: “When everyone starts to believe that he really did come!” She and I would agree at this point because my general response to individuals who would ask when I was going to preach on the second coming of Christ was, “When everyone begins to believe that he came the first time!”

I find it amazing that there are still individuals, even in the United States, that haven’t even heard that Christ entered our world as a baby and exited as a risen Savior. Maybe these are the same individuals who believe that the State of New Mexico is not a part of America and have trouble naming where the capital of our country is located.

That’s pretty sad … and yet, sadder still, would be to go through life without ever discovering the wonderful news of Jesus Christ … trying to live life by our own strength … attempting to “solve” the problems of existence without any Divine guidance … thinking and feeling that we are in it alone. How sad …

We are His! We have a great message. Following the example of the Tampa lady, we should do all that we can do to let the world know that Jesus Christ entered the world as a baby and became the Savior of the world through His death on the cross and rising from the grave.

We are His … and this is His Season … what is it beginning to look like to you?

Quote for today: If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior. Source Unknown