As I think about all God has done in my life, I often remember a Christmas celebrated years ago. We had been living in the country. Our home was an old school house that we were remodeling. During those years we began our own family traditions. Each year we had a huge community Christmas potluck and invited all our friends, family, and neighbors to share our love and our table.
The year we sold our home to move on the boat, we decided to have one last feast in the old school house that had held so much joy. The crowning glory of the day would be that all seven of our children were going to be home. The days before an Arctic freeze hit. Christmas Eve day, we were setting the tables for sixty-five. Our tree was decorated and we had a warm fire in the old earth stove.
The next day we were going to have Mexican dishes and traditional turkey as well. Many children would be playing around our tree! The phone rang and our pregnant daughter in love was on the other end. Paul our eldest son had failed to pay a fine and he was in jail! I heard Robin’s muffled sobs as she said, “Mom, we won’t be home for Christmas”! My eyes filled with tears as my husband of ten years looked on. He quietly said, “I’ll go”…
The year we sold our home to move on the boat, we decided to have one last feast in the old school house that had held so much joy. The crowning glory of the day would be that all seven of our children were going to be home. The days before an Arctic freeze hit. Christmas Eve day, we were setting the tables for sixty-five. Our tree was decorated and we had a warm fire in the old earth stove.
The next day we were going to have Mexican dishes and traditional turkey as well. Many children would be playing around our tree! The phone rang and our pregnant daughter in love was on the other end. Paul our eldest son had failed to pay a fine and he was in jail! I heard Robin’s muffled sobs as she said, “Mom, we won’t be home for Christmas”! My eyes filled with tears as my husband of ten years looked on. He quietly said, “I’ll go”…
Those were the years before debit cards, and personal checks were frowned on, so we didn’t know exactly how this was all going to come about. We prayed and Gary began his Christmas Eve journey. I know an angel went before him as the store in town cashed his personal three hundred and fifty dollar check. Our little Courier pick-up carried him across 250 miles of ice to a County jail in Washington where Gary paid our sons fine so he could join his family for dinner at our Christmas feast. He did for our son what he could not do for himself. He paid the price to set him free.
This story often reminds me of another Father Who had children in “jail” owing a debt they could not pay. He sent His Son on a Christmas Eve journey over 2000 years ago, to a cruel cold world to pay our “fine”. God the Father has a feast prepared for us also, and He wants ALL His children to be there. Through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, Jesus paid our sin debt in full and all we have to do to receive the gift of salvation that He is offering to us is to accept what He has done on our behalf. Our son, Paul, would never have considered not accepting his father’s gift and neither should we refuse God’s gift of His Son. The Bible says, “To all who received Him, Jesus, He gave the right to become children of God”. The entrance fee to heaven has been paid in full for a grandma like me … or young girl like Tiffany! No matter what our age or the degree of our sin we are free to run with open arms to the One Who HAS paid it all!
I have told you some of my life’s journey and I know you have your own story to tell. Each of us is on a course through life. Some may already have made a definite decision to follow God and are on an adventure that will ultimately lead to His Home in Heaven. But someone reading this may not have made that decision. You may be waiting because no one has told you how you can know God and the plan he has for your life. Or you know the way and you have just been waiting the right time. If this is the case I want to give you an opportunity to book your trip plan right now.
Right now if you realizing that God is tugging at your heart, maybe it is time for you to lose sight of the shore and enter into the “Ocean of His love. Would you want to pray with me? I am going to pray a simple prayer like the one I prayed years ago. If you have never asked Jesus to be your Savior and you want to now, … you may pray silently along with me.
“Dear God, I have come to realize that I am separated from You because of my sin… and I need a Savior…. Thank You, for sending Jesus, to accomplish that which I could never do. I know now it’s because of His sinless life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave… I know He accomplished all that is necessary for my relationship to be restored to You…
God hears the softest cry of a needy heart … His word promises that, “If you ask you will receive! So if you have prayed with me to receive Jesus as your Savior for the very first time … you are now God’s child and I want to be the first to welcome you to the Family of God.
“Dear God, I have come to realize that I am separated from You because of my sin… and I need a Savior…. Thank You, for sending Jesus, to accomplish that which I could never do. I know now it’s because of His sinless life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave… I know He accomplished all that is necessary for my relationship to be restored to You…
I ask you now to forgive all my sins … and I invite Jesus Christ to come into my life and be my personal Savior … Thank You for forgiving me and making me a brand new person! … I ask these things, trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ ... A-men
God hears the softest cry of a needy heart … His word promises that, “If you ask you will receive! So if you have prayed with me to receive Jesus as your Savior for the very first time … you are now God’s child and I want to be the first to welcome you to the Family of God.
I remember the day we launched our boat. We took her by trailer to the mighty Columbia River. Sojourner had been built in a backyard and until that day she’d never seen water. If she could have talked she would have told you “I am happy to be a back yard project” … but she didn’t know what she’d been created to be! The moment Sojourner left that trailer and settled down in the water my heart sang, “She is free, free to become all she was meant to be”! At that moment I knew a tiny bit of what our Heavenly father feels when one of His children lets go of their fear and takes hold of His Wonderful Forever Hand.
Today if you have asked Jesus to come into your life you too are free to become all God means for you to be. And I can tell you from personal experience, you are beginning the most satisfying journey you’ll ever embark upon. Welcome to the Family of God! AND MERRY FIRST CHRISTMAS as a new born babe of God's own choosing.
