Eight days.  Are you ready?  Has this Christmas season been enjoyable?  Has it been a time when you've reflected on the "reason for the season"---YOU!  I know folks say Jesus is the reason for the season, but we're the reason Jesus came.  If not for our sin, Jesus would never have come.  We would have nothing to celebrate.  Life would be truly dark. 

I've heard a lot of folks say, "I can't believe Christmas is next week!"  Time DOES fly whether you're having fun or not.  My experience is the older you get the faster time goes, BUT the question is more "What are we doing with the time?"  than "Where does the time go?"  This has been a challenging week for me.  I've been dealing with some tough situations, and since I'm a pastor I get to deal with many people's tough situations.  It used to be a burden.  These days it's mostly a blessing.  How many people get to help other people focus on Jesus in the midst of times that feel like they're going through hell? The answer to that question ought to be EVERY believer, since all of us get to help other people focus on Jesus, but sometimes we don't.  Sometimes we have the attitude not of we GET to do that, but that we HAVE to do that.  Get to is way better than have to no matter what the task may be.

If you're going through a tough situation right now, I pray that you will talk with someone, share the burden so that someone has the opportunity to carry it with you and fulfill his or her calling as a follower of Jesus.  If you're not going through a tough situation right now, look around!  You'll probably see someone who is.  Take the time to share the burden, to be the one who is fulfilling your calling as a follower of Jesus!  The Christmas season exists because God saw our predicament and said, "I care."  If we want others to experience the true meaning of the season, we need to care, too.  We need to help others through their predicaments, and sometimes as we do, our own don't seem so heavy.

I pray that you are getting ready for Christmas.  It'll be here in a blink, and then it'll be gone---but the meaning of Christmas never leaves us if Jesus IS Savior and Lord of our lives, because His coming has forever changed our existence---changed it to what He called "abundant life."  We can experience abundant life even in our sorrows and predicaments, so long as we remember that Jesus came to deliver US,  not just the whole world, but you and me, personally.  Praise the Lord for that reality!

Let's pray:  Heavenly Father, Thank You for this season of year when we celebrate Your amazing love for us.  Fill us with Your Holy Spirit that we, too, may share Your amazing love with others in Jesus' name.  Amen.