Christmas!

"It's the most wonderful time of the year."  Christmas is almost here!  It feels like just yesterday I was celebrating Christmas in the tiny town of Lolo, MT.  I can't believe a whole year has come and gone since then.  The Christmas season is such an awesome time.  The cool, crisp, air, with everyone wishing for a white Christmas (which is almost inevitable for Montana and Wyoming).  Lights are lit, music is playing, and gifts are given and recieved.  However, in the midst of all of the activity and excitement, there is a much deeper meaning.  The gifts are great, but we must not let that be the primary purpose of our Christmas. 

The true reason for the season is to celebrate the birth of Christ.  On the night of Christ's birth, the sign of the star was given.  Three wise men followed that star until they found Jesus, their Lord and Savior.  They gave him gold, frankincense, and myrrh as gifts.  Upon their return home, they were told to take a different route.  Matthew 2:12 reads, "And being warned of God in dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way."

Once the wise men found the Christ, they went a different way back.  They could not go back down the same path that they came from, but with this new knowledge, they walked a new path.  During this Christmas season, grasp the true meaning of Christmas.  Find the Christ is Christmas and experience the blessings that come from it.  Once you do, you can do as the wise men of old did, and not return to your old ways, but walk a new path.

She's Gonna Eat Me!

I've never been much of a runner.  My dad always said, "I only run when someone's chasing me."  I've lived by that quite a bit.  There are some exceptions though.  I run when I'm playing sports and when there's only one piece of pie left, to name two instances.  But usually it's just when I'm being chased.  Pumba, in Disney's The Lion King, is a great example of running when getting chased. 

One of the best scenes in Disney's Lion King is the scene where Pumba runs from Nala and screams, "She's gonna eat me!"  Not only does Pumba make a hilarious face (see picture to the left), but I've never seen a warthog run that fast.  He didn't skip a beat.  Once he saw Nala in the grass, he was out of there.  Once there was danger, he scrammed. 

There are times in our life that we need to run like Pumba.  When we see or sense danger, whether spiritual or physical, we should get out of there as quickly as we can.  In Genesis 39: 12, Joseph shows us how to run from spiritual danger, "And [Potiphar's wife] caught [Joseph] by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out."  Once Joseph saw that he was in spiritual danger, he fled the scene. 

When we recognize that we're in spiritual danger, we need to flee the scene.  We can't afford to stick around.  I know I said that I only run when someone is chasing me, but Satan is always chasing me.  He's chasing everyone, and tempting them to stray off the beaten path.  We need to always be running from him towards our Savior, Jesus Christ.  As long as we're headed toward the Savior, we will feel his protecting light and be able to endure to the end.