Isaiah 9:6

I put a missile in the barrel, pulled back the spring and locked in with the scope. With a pull of the trigger, I heard a “pop” and a brief, but loud, yell. A person can get in trouble so easily some days, and that Christmas was one of those days. A neighbor was there, and she was bending under the tree to pick up a present; and I didn’t miss. That was the Christmas that Santa gave, and Dad took away (but his mercy soon gave it back).

Sin works a lot like that: By the time we understood the cost of sin it was too late. We were in it deeper than we could have imagined, and we had no way out. “The wages of sin is death,” and there is nothing that we can do about it.

That is why Christmas should be celebrated with the greatest of joy. The only one who can help us has come to earth with mercy. He comes to make his blessings known as far as the curse of sin is found. Gabriel said, “His name shall be called Jesus, because he will save his people from their sin.”

God gave this world a life that was good, and the Devil has done his best to take it away. That first Christmas was the birth of our hope to get it all back again. The wages of sin may be death, but we have been given a gift great enough to pay that debt once for all; “The gift of God is eternal life.” All that is required of us is that we accept the gift. “But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the children of God…” Take it with a cheerful heart, and do not say to God, “You shouldn’t have;” that is what mercy does. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad: “For God so loved the world that he gave…”