I was 20 years old the first time I played Santa. I remember standing in front of the mirror after I got the suit on and thinking, “This ain’t gonna fool nobody.” But it did!
The kids at church seemed to be buying my act as soon as I walked in that night. But once I hit ‘em with a solid “Ho! Ho! Ho!”, they were completely sold. They lined up like good little boys and girls and took turns telling me everything they wanted for Christmas.
If God were like Santa all we’d ever harvest is coal. I fall short of His standards everyday. Even on my best days I find a little pride or envy or anger or resentment in my heart. On my worst days, I find them all and then some. I bet you can relate.
Any one of these sins makes us completely unworthy of Him or His gifts. And God isn’t surprised by them. He doesn’t have to make a list or check it twice. He has always known each one we would commit before we committed them.
But He has filled our lives with a harvest of good gifts anyway.
Think of all we harvest that we didn’t plant. A world to live in, and loved ones to live with. A body to move and play with a voice to speak and ears to hear and hands to hold and feet to carry. He gives us talents and abilities. He gives us a mind to choose whom we will serve with all we have received.
Our Heavenly Father is a whole lot better than Santa. He sent Jesus to rescue us from the naughty list so that by faith in Him our names could be written in the Lamb’s book of life.