When Ava and Emma asked me to play "Old Elf" (think Old Maid but with a bearded gnome), I plopped down on the floor and dutifully picked up my cards.

As she nestled next to me, the game in full swing, Emma “couldn’t help” but notice what was in my hand: one last card (which you’ve correctly guessed was “the old elf”). Five-year-old Emma could have chosen to draw a card from her sister. Yet her big blue eyes narrowed as she softly stated, “I want to do this for you.” I tried to talk her out of it, reminding her she would lose the whole game. But she insisted again, “I want to do this for you.”

For a moment, her gesture transported me to a dank hall, where torchlight flickered on a circle of faces unusually hardened. In the center of that circle stood a man whose hands were tied.

The prisoner looked directly into the eyes of a thug menacing a wooden stick, a knot on the end. Walloping the skull of the prisoner, the ruffian heard an unlikely reply from the bruised head: "I want to do this for you."

Another came forward with a fiendish grin—and a crown of thorns. As this brute jammed the crown on the prisoner's head, he declared quietly to his attacker, "I want to do this for you."

Another slapped the prisoner's face. Another spat in it. Still, another drew blood and pus as he ripped out a section of the guy's beard. To all of them, the prisoner said softly, "I want to do this for you."

There were others—many others—a soldier with a bone-laced whip and an executioner bearing a hammer and nails. The prisoner, weakened as he was, whispered gently to all of them, "I want to do this for you."

He said it and said it and said it. All the way to the cross. All across the ages. All the way to this very moment.

Consider. Jesus wasn’t a hapless victim dying a helpless death. He did it for you.

And the unspeakable reason is—He wanted to.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

-Romans 5:8

From a distance, it looked impressive. Quietly majestic, even.

Hiking through the park, I wandered off the (literally) beaten bath to check out a tree whose circumference was 136 inches. That's 11 feet four inches around.

Only up close would you notice this tree has a hole in the trunk. It's just about at eye height, so you can lean into the thing and see grass and trees on the other side (see photo below).

But what forces of nature could hollow out a tree? Drought? Disease? Rot from within? I'm sure this tree has a story, likely a sad one. And that story will only get sadder once the park district follows through on the destruction noted by a spraypainted X. Still, the longer I stared through that trunk, the stronger grew the sensation that this tree was a living (or perhaps more accurately, dying) metaphor.

Most of the believers you and I bump into in our daily lives look just fine on the outside. Healthy. Happy. Productive. But experience shows that more than a few are as hollowed out as that tree in the woods.

Which is a fancier way of saying they’re dying on the inside. Could be they’ve disconnected themselves from God—or feeding on His Word. Maybe they’ve cut themselves off from the spiritual nourishment that comes only in fellowship with other believers.

In nature, a hollowed-out tree is a death sentence. But hollowed-out souls are not beyond the restoring touch of God. Analyzing, assessing, or even passing judgment on these people is tempting. Yet, our task is not to criticize but to comfort. Not to bring blame but to bring balm.

It's a new year. Maybe we should worry less about resolutions—and worry more about restorations.

: souls with holes. Look for them. Love them.

And invite God to do the work that only He can do—restoring the hollow places.

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.

-Romans 15:1,2

Letdown.

That's the emotional state for many of us on December 26. And no wonder.

We've shopped, dropped, wrapped, cleaned, and prepped. Then, all that work gets gobbled up in the time it takes to eat a piece of pie--almost.

We’ve looked forward to seeing family.

We’ve looked forward to being with friends.

We’ve looked forward to a restful break.

And now most of that is in the rearview mirror.

But could I suggest we're looking in the wrong direction?

Instead of looking back or looking down—we should be looking up.

Consider. If you know Christ as Savior, you are one day closer to His return—His second advent!

You are one day closer to:

• Relationships without regret.
• Life without funerals.
• Love without end.

No more widows or widowers.

No more thirsty or starving or trafficked children.

No more cancer. Or heart attacks. Or strokes.

No more meanness, measles, mumps, malaria, missiles, misery, mocking, murder, or mourning (I think you get the idea, so I'll spare you the rest of the alphabet).

Ponder the jaw-dropping joy of staring into the real face of our real Savior, Jesus. And because He will be there, sin won’t be! But our believing loved ones will be there. What a great company of saints! And—the angels, too.

At last, we’ll begin the beginning of the ultimate adventure!

Today—this day—you are one day closer to the return of Christ, the coming of His Kingdom, and the end of evil. So, join me in the joyous declaration that this is not just a good day; it's a great day! This 26^th day of December 2024 is not a letdown. It's a look-up!

“…We look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.” 

-Titus 2:13

It’s official!

Today, December 19, we are just seven days away from…the start of the gift return line! Consider:

• Around 1 in 6 Christmas gifts will be taken back to stores.
• Approximately 1 in 3 three U.S. adults will make a return or exchange this Christmas season.
• 18-24 year-olds are five times more likely to return a gift than those 55 and up.
• Every year, Amazon returns cost the company more than $800 billion!

We have a friend who is famous—or maybe infamous—for all her shopping returns. At least one store has placed her on a No-Fly list. She now sends her husband to make her returns!

When you think about it, we all have stuff we wish we could "send back." I'm not talking about tools or, ties or toys. I'm thinking of:

• The hateful thing you wished you’d never said.
• The divorce you never wanted.
• The choices you regret every day of your life.

Where’s the line you stand in to take back those things?

What if I told you there is such a line? It begins at a manger in Bethlehem and tracks all the way to a cross in Jerusalem.

The fact is, the baby born at Christmas grew up to be the Savior of the world. He died on the cross to take away your failures, sins, and selfish living.

Jesus is the only One who can take the broken pieces of your world—your heart—and put them back together. Notice, I’m not talking about religion. I’m talking about a relationship with Jesus Christ. He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

If you’re tired of living under the crushing weight of regrets that never leave—receive the ultimate gift this Christmas: salvation through faith in Jesus. The Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Come to Jesus now. Admit your failures. Claim His forgiveness. Make Him the leader of your life—your Savior. If you ask Him, He will change your life and help you turn away from self-focused living.

And if you already know Christ but still find yourself laboring under regrets of all kinds, go back to Bethlehem and be reminded of the angel’s message to Joseph: “You shall name him Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” That includes yours. All of them!

Merry Christmas!

It's our day-after-Thanksgiving tradition. I ascend the dusty heights of our garage door overhead storage, retrieving the interlocking plywood pieces that make up a nativity scene. The crèche is then assembled on the front lawn and illuminated with an LED spotlight (which sometimes actually works).

One night, as we pulled out of our driveway, Diana noticed a curious visual playing out on our home siding. It was an enormous shadow bearing a striking resemblance to the Joseph figure in our manger scene! The spotlight seems positioned at just the right angle and spacing to make Joseph look huge.

Ironically, his part in the Christmas story—and that of Jesus Himself—is comparatively small. It's so small you might label Joseph a background character. Once the Christmas drama unfolds, we hear no more from or about Joseph. He disappears off the page. Yet he casts a large shadow.

Seeing Joseph's image projected on our house siding made me think about the wide range of people in the body of Christ. Most of us are not in highly visible roles. There are few pastors and even fewer media personalities. We're background folks. We serve in out-of-the-way places doing mundane things often unseen or unknown by others.

There's no glamour, no glitz, no glory. Understandably, background people might wonder, "Am I making a difference? Does my life really count?

But consider.

• Someone had to follow the angel's instruction and name the baby Jesus.
• Someone had to work through the logistics of how the family would make their way to Egypt to escape Herod.
• Someone had to find a way to house and feed a struggling young refugee family in a foreign land.
• Someone had to raise Jesus and teach Him a trade.

That someone was Joseph—a background person. Because of his faithfulness and simple obedience, he casts a large shadow on the life of Christ and our lives to this day.

Do you see yourself as a background person? If so, your deeds are not unseen by your Heavenly Father. Your service matters. Your kindness matters—and may well cast a large shadow.

Recall that in heaven's economy, "the first will be last and the last will be first" (Matthew 19:30). There, we will see your "small" faithfulness for the largeness that it is. So don't give up! Your shadow is showing!

Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary.

-Galatians 6:9