You Better Watch Out...
“You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why...” These are the opening lines of the well known Christmas song, “Santa Claus is coming to town.” The song urges us to get ready because Santa is coming and the way to be ready is to be on his “nice list” and asleep when he arrives. Apparently, if we see Santa, the magic fails and we don’t get presents.
There is an interesting parallel in the bible where Jesus says, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36). It doesn’t have the same catchy tune, but the point is that Jesus is coming and we need to be ready. Christmas was his first visit to our world but he has promised a second.
Of course, there are significant differences between the coming of Jesus and the coming of Santa Claus. One is that Jesus doesn’t want us to be sleeping when he arrives. He wants us to be awake and alert so that we won’t be taken by surprise. And we can forget about “naughty and nice lists.” Christianity is not about being “bad or good,” but whether or not we have a healthy personal relationship with Jesus.
Traditionally, the four weeks leading up to Christmas are known as the season of Advent. The word Advent comes from Latin and means “coming” or “arrival.” Advent is a time of preparation for the “coming” or “arrival” of Jesus. If you’re anything like me, the four weeks before Christmas get more and more hectic as the big day approaches. There is always a last minute rush. The challenge of Advent is to do the opposite - to slow down and take time out to reflect on whether we are prepared to meet Jesus.
Neil Percival
There is an interesting parallel in the bible where Jesus says, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36). It doesn’t have the same catchy tune, but the point is that Jesus is coming and we need to be ready. Christmas was his first visit to our world but he has promised a second.
Of course, there are significant differences between the coming of Jesus and the coming of Santa Claus. One is that Jesus doesn’t want us to be sleeping when he arrives. He wants us to be awake and alert so that we won’t be taken by surprise. And we can forget about “naughty and nice lists.” Christianity is not about being “bad or good,” but whether or not we have a healthy personal relationship with Jesus.
Traditionally, the four weeks leading up to Christmas are known as the season of Advent. The word Advent comes from Latin and means “coming” or “arrival.” Advent is a time of preparation for the “coming” or “arrival” of Jesus. If you’re anything like me, the four weeks before Christmas get more and more hectic as the big day approaches. There is always a last minute rush. The challenge of Advent is to do the opposite - to slow down and take time out to reflect on whether we are prepared to meet Jesus.
Neil Percival