“What do you want most for Christmas?”

December 20, 2019

“What do you want most for Christmas?”

They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,

and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

John 12:21 (NRSV)

What do you want most for Christmas?

Several years ago, I conducted an experiment. In a small group I was leading, I gave each person a 3x5 card. I asked them to think of the young people in their lives, those less than twenty-one years old, and list on the card the two or three things they hoped for the most for their lives. The answers primarily centered on the ideas of health and happiness, described in varying terms. What was surprising to me was that no one listed anything to do with knowing Christ or living a life of Christian virtues. Not one hoped their young person would enter into full-time Christian service.

Jesus’ response to those people who wanted to see him included, “Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am” (John 12:26). We call Jesus’ final command to his followers the Great Commission: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Even so, not one person in my little experiment listed on their 3x5 card anything remotely connected to Jesus’ command.

I suppose it is possible that people assume that you know the thing they hope most for, and want most for the people they love, is to know Jesus and to live in such a way that they will hear Jesus say, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’ Possibly, maybe, but I don’t think it is too probable. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once said, “God is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance.” It is easy to get so caught up in life that we don’t see the forest for the trees. Whether your Christmas is surrounded by bows and glitter, or is more subdued in shades of blue to match your sadness, let us all reaffirm the source of our hope.

What do you want most for Christmas?

I Want to Know Christ!

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.