I sat down yesterday and watched one of my favorite Christmas movies: “It’s A Wonderful Life”. It is the story of a young man who desperately wants to leave his small hometown and see the world and experience the adventures of life. Instead, he is continually kept at home to run a building and loan company that barely makes a profit but gives ordinary folks a chance to borrow and buy their own homes. In the movie a relative carelessly loses the cash for a bank deposit for the company on Christmas Eve and now our hero, George Bailey, will go to jail for embezzlement. In desperation George finds himself on a bridge of an icy river and contemplates jumping in and taking his own life so his life insurance policy can cover the debt that was no fault of his own. In the story, people are praying for George and God sends an angel to help him. George complains to the angel that it would have been better if he had never been born. And so, the angel decides to let him experience his community and family if he had never lived. The movie takes us through all the things and people that have been a part of his world and so much has changed…and all for the worse. As we come to the climax of the movie, George Bailey comes back to the river and prays that God would allow him to be a part of his world and restore it the way it was because he was a part of it all. And even with the huge problems (which are solved at the end of the movie by grateful folks he has shared life with) he declares that it has indeed been a wonderful life. I love the movie but the challenge I see always is “What difference would my world…or your world be, if you had never lived?” How have you lived to influence your world to make it better? How have you given or sacrificed to make a difference in people’s lives? For followers of this Jesus of the Bible, Jesus declared that our lives and the way we live them do matter. He said “Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. People are saved by faith in what Christ has done on the cross…and nothing else. But our lives changed by the love and kindness of our God should continually touch the lives of the people we share this journey of life with here on planet earth. So, begin with faith in Christ and then continue by living in a way that imitates and glorifies this Jesus that comes to this world at Christmas. Live that way and you will leave knowing that you have made a difference, that you made your days here count and that it is indeed “a wonderful life”. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Matthew 5:16 NLT In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ
Matthew 5:16 NLT In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ