A Christmas Story

[Ralphie, the main character, is at the mall waiting in line to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas.  We has been wanting a Red Ryder B.B. gun ever since he had first seen one.]

I will admit, I myself was surprised that I was able to draw something from this movie.  As I watched this clip I recognized that this could be a very good analogy about how we approach God, especially during this Christmas season.  So often we look up to God as Santa, the giver of good gifts, but only if I have been a good boy/girl.  And if you are not a good person then you don't get what you want.  We have this mentality towards God all the time, we think good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.  It is not an issue about bad or good, it is about the nature of whether or not we want to be in a relationship with the person who grants us this wonderful gift that began at the Incarnation.  When God told humanity, "I love you so very much, that I will become one of you."  Heaven is not a place, it is a relationship, and hell is the opposite the constant lack of a relationship.

The second part is that we often look up to God and ask him for all sorts of things.  Now I am not saying not to ask for things from God, but have you ever stopped and asked what He wants from you?  Santa is a person too, does he not deserve our love?  Relationships are meant to be two way streets.  If you catch yourself this holiday season asking God for all these things, and then get upset when you don't get them, ask yourself why am I asking for this?  Am I looking at God like so many people do Santa, just somebody to ask things from without being required to give?  

God does not respond as Santa does in this clip, nor the way the elves do.  God is there to love us, and He wants to spend as much time with us as possible.  He has the ability and the time to spend an infinite amount of time and energy focused on you, your desires, gifts, talents, troubles, and everything about you that you can imagine.  He loves you so much he became like you.  So take time this Christmas to say thank you to the God who has given you Himself, but also to listen to what He has to say.