Christmas is coming...

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat... (ok maybe not). But one thing is for sure, Christmas is coming. My vacation has officially started and I am finally getting in the gear... and the spirit. The last few weeks have been pretty stressful and busy and I'm sad to say I haven't spent enough time with God. Lately I've been thinking about the Christmas story, and how this overly familiar story can show me something new. Well, I started thinking about believing and the song "Believe" by Josh Groban came to mind. If you just believe... This song from the Christmas movie, Polar Express, is talking about believing in Santa. As Christians, we believe in something greater (yes, greater than that man in the red suit). God came down to earth as the son Jesus. How more exciting is this! Well, here's the problem: This happened about 2 thousand years ago. Do we still believe? For some this may be walking on dangerous territory, but I think its important to think about and study. Do you really believe that Jesus was born, because of a divine plan to save the sinful people of the world? Do you really believe that we need salvation? Hard questions, I know. Probably pretty scary. In Polar Express, there was a tiny bell that was from Santa's sleigh. Only those who believed in Santa, could hear the ringing. So on Christmas Day, the 2 kids could hear the bell, but the parents just thought is was broken. Here's the neat distinction between that belief and a Christian's belief: We don't grow out of it. At the end of Polar Express the boy mentions that he never stopped being able to hear the bell. He had an encounter with Santa, and he never stopped believing. Have you had an encounter with God? Can you hear the bell of belief?