The Wondering Sheep: Episode 3 – Living the Christian Life

Merry Christmas!

December 26, 2025

Merry Chris…oops. I suppose we’re done celebrating the day/season/half year of sales... at least I think we are. It’s the season that NEVER ends. When I saw Christmas displays before Halloween, I almost put down that 5 lb. bag of Costco Halloween candy and started looking for the Christmas cards. I’d be a fool to be late getting the deals, right?  

Black Friday is now four months long.... the Coke ads with the cute polar bears and lighted trucks really put one in a holiday mood too... consuming many calories is essential to a great season! Then there is the ad with a guy whistling up a really cute puppy for the really cute girl next to him. Before she hugs the puppy, she whistles herself and a huge pickup truck comes crashing through the snow. All is well with the world as they both hug what is most important to each other. I loved the ad that talked about getting great gifts for everyone, but don’t forget to treat yourself too! 

The right phone, the right clothes, the right perfume, the right vacation, and all (of course) from the right stores. It’s a sneaky message, isn’t it: if you get all this stuff, you’ll have the happiest kids, family, spouse, and all will be right with the world. I almost forgot the most important part of the Christmas holidays–FOOTBALL! Football watching parties can help with that festive spirit, especially when your team wins! There can’t be anything else more important than America’s number one sport! 

I keep thinking something is missing from my list of things that makes this holiday season so bright. After all, shouldn’t we have some perspective as even consider starting at least four months early to prepare? So, how did you do this year? What, you didn’t check everything off your list after checking it twice? Was everything above accomplished by you and your kin? Did you get what you want? 

Four months to prepare for this special season seems like a long time. How about 4,000 years or so to prepare for Christmas? What, you don’t count that far in your years lived? That’s about how long God prepared for that day: about 4,000 years till the original day of Christmas came (no we’re not sure about the actual amount of time, but it still illustrates the point!). After the awesome week of creation, God watched Adam and Eve mess up big time. Thanks to them, he knew that you and I would mess up on our own, big time, and have our own long list of sins. He didn’t have to check twice. 

That first Christmas didn’t have a movie produced on the spot to run on Netflix or CBS news broadcasting live, or even trucks full of cold drinks for those involved to celebrate! What it did have was an exhausted young mother who gave birth in a stable. Not a state-of-the-art birthing room at Sanford for her. There were shepherds, dirty and messy from living outside, rushing in and partying around the young family… just what every new mother needs!  

How did we celebrate this year? Did we check off everything on the list? Coca-Cola? New puppies and trucks? New clothes, shoes, hair styles? Football party? Great food? Praising God with other believers in his House?   

How much did we spend on gifts, clothes, travel, etc.? How much did we give back to our Savior to help spread the word of his Salvation that he came down to earth at the first Christmas? Did we give thanks for his gifts to us? What did our kids, extended families, and friends see in our lives that showed what was important about this season? 

I pray your Christmas was merry. I pray all your travels were safe and that all that you got and gave awesome gifts. I pray that those you visited thanked God for your safe arrivals too (and safe departures). Most of all, I pray that God and that precious child in Bethlehem were at the center of your celebration of what took God 4,000 years to accomplish and another 2,000 to get to us. Christmas is a festival of God’s love and mercy. His Son is the center of our celebration. Merry Christmas!