Am I ready? (Part IV)

Addressing and mailing cards. 

Selecting and wrapping presents.

Choir practices and children's pageants. 

Baking grandma's special recipe cookies.

We're ready for Christmas, right?

Or are we harried? Hurried? Irritated? Sad?

Being ready for Christmas takes some looking inward. It takes some prayer time, and some listening to the Lord. It takes effort to make sure our attitudes are right, and that Christmas can happen in our hearts.

Our last lesson from Joseph is that Joseph gave whatever he had to give.

Joseph was a plain man. He was not wealthy or powerful. He wasn't dressed in rich garments, nor did he have a retinue of servants and a polished, gleaming, massive home in the middle of town.

Joseph didn't know as he walked toward Bethlehem that he would need to take Mary and Jesus into far-away Egypt. He didn't know as he watched and listened to the shepherds that he would be separated soon from his home town and his relatives for quite a while. He didn't know all of the demands that would soon be made on his time and his wallet.

But whatever God asked of him, Joseph said "yes," and freely gave.

That's what Christmas is. When God gave Himself, Christmas happened. When Joseph gave of himself, Christmas happened. There's nothing wrong with giving tangible gifts, but the greatest gift is the gift of love.

I found this story that I couldn't find an author to attribute to, but I offer it here with my gratitude for whoever first told it:

Wally was a 7th grade student who was bigger than any of the other students in his Sunday school class. His mother had been an alcoholic when he was born, & as a result, Wally just did not have all the mental capabilities that the rest of his classmates had. But somehow he managed to get by.

Christmas time came and his class decided to put on a Christmas pageant. Since he was the biggest, Wally was selected to be the innkeeper. After all, the innkeeper is kind of a villain in the Christmas drama. So they coached Wally to be just as mean as he possibly could be.

Well, the night came for the Christmas play. And in it, Mary & Joseph came to Bethlehem, went to the Inn & knocked on its door. Wally opened the door & said, "What do you want?" just as mean & gruff as he could possibly be.

Joseph said, "We need a room. We need a place to stay tonight." "Well, you'll have to stay someplace else," said Wally, "because there's no room here. There's no room in the Inn." Joseph said, "But my wife's expecting a baby just any time now. Isn't there someplace where we can stay, where we are protected from the cold & where she can deliver her child?" "No," said Wally, "There's no room here."

Suddenly there was a silence on the stage. It was one of those embarrassing moments when you know someone has forgotten the lines. From behind the curtains you could hear the prompter saying, "Begone. Begone." Wally was supposed to speak, but for some reason he had choked up & forgotten to say "Begone." Finally, after he had been coached for several long seconds, Wally managed to say, "Begone." Mary & Joseph sadly turned to leave. But just as they did, Wally said, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You can have my room."

The director of the play was ready to pull out her hair because she knew that the whole Christmas pageant had been ruined. But had it? Maybe Wally, better than anybody else communicated the real spirit of Christmas. "You can have my room."

When that first Christmas happened, it was God saying, "You can have Me. I give you Myself." That is still the greatest gift of all. 

Are we ready for Christmas? I hope we are ready in attitude. I hope we are all ready for the real spirit of Christmas. Jesus stands before us today, inviting us to make a real commitment. He extends His hands, pierced by the cruel nails, and asks us, "Will you give your all to Me? I have given all for you."

What can we give the Creator of the Universe? The one gift He desires most: we can give our lives to Him. We can seek Him and enjoy His peace and love.

We can have the most meaningful and blessed Christmas ever.

Praise the Lord!

Merry Christmas!