Christmas List

About this time each year we tend to think about kids and their Christmas lists. They have been paying attention to the advertisements on television and billboards, and in stores they have entered during the year. The Internet is filled with “must have” toys, games, apps, and others items they seemingly “must have.”

As adults we don’t normally make lists. . .do we? I ask my bride to make a list for me of the things she wants, but she seldom does, and when she does it is always very practical items that don’t seem to me like gifts at all.

I think all Believers ought to make a list this time of year. The list is not for Santa or one’s spouse or family, but rather, for themselves. It is not a list of toys or tools or other items, rather it is a list of genuine “must haves” if we are to be all that God designed us to be. I have no idea what you need on your list, but I have a suggestion for you from my list:

A clear and definitive “fear of the LORD” in one’s life. Proverbs 1:7 reveals that a reverential awe of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. It is an awe of the LORD that embodies concentration, consecration, and consistency as modeled by the Savior. I am concerned by the lack of reverential awe that is so apparent in our collective approach to praise, prayer, Truth, the acts of worship, and commitment to other members of the family of God.

Ask your heart if you are careless in your praise, prayer, application of Truth, enthusiastic worship, and faithfulness to the “one another” ministries of each Believer to others.

If a reverential awe of the LORD is not first on my list of “wants” for Christmas, perhaps it ought to be.