“It’s a Wonderful Life”
There are many aspects of this beloved Christmas classic that can remind us of what God revealed to us through the Bethlehem event so many years ago. Yesterday we pointed out that sometimes our personal disappointments and unfulfilled expectations can distract us from the blessings that God has brought into our lives. In a way, we become the “scrooge” of our own Christmas!
Part of the problem for George Bailey is that he feels unimportant and that what he is doing in the small town of Bedford Falls makes no difference in the bigger picture. He hears reports of what his contemporaries are doing in the big city or what his own brother is doing as a fighter pilot in the war. These things just feed George’s sense of “insignificance” and discontent.
We can often find ourselves asking the same questions as George back in Bedford Falls…Why am I here? What difference does it make? Maybe you feel that you are trapped in your life instead of blessed! “Does God care about me in a world of billions of people?”
Let me share with you a word of encouragement from the Christmas story…God loves everyone…even what the world may see as “insignificant” and small. The prophets tell us that God chose the “little” town of Bethlehem to burst into our world (Micah 5:2)! He did not come into the Capital city of Jerusalem into the royal palace. He came into a small town just a stone’s throw from the city. He chose to be born into a common family of no particular position and in a stable behind a No Vacancy sign.
He was not surrounded by people of religious or political power, but by simple shepherds from a nearby field. The message? Jesus came to everyone. There is no person too small or too insignificant or too hidden away that God does not love. Therefore, that includes us!
Sometimes we can feel like Bethlehem…small…unimportant…in the shadows of the Jerusalems of our world. The good news of Christmas is that you are important to God! He loves you and you have been created for a relationship to God. And…not only a relationship…but to be a significant part of His plan to redeem the world!
In other words, you have been chosen, like Bethlehem, to bring the message of God’s love into this world. You are called to bring the Christmas message to those around you!
George Bailey found out that his life WAS significant and his selfless love for others had made an impact beyond anything that he could imagine. In the Kingdom of God each of us is equally significant. No one is more less important than anyone else. Therefore, we are all called, like the shepherds, to proclaim the message of Christmas to our world!
Merry Christmas!