Bright morning sunlight streamed
through our living room window. I ran the vacuum over the carpet,
preoccupied with today's to-do list.
Do the drapes need cleaning? I
wondered. I glanced toward them and froze.
A dark
haired man crouched in the bushes directly beneath the first-floor
picture window. I left the vacuum running and flattened myself
against the closest wall.
Earlier that morning our local police
department had reported an upswing in the number of daytime break-ins
in our area.
Calm down Jeanie, I
told myself, It's probably the electric company guy coming
to read the meter.
I crept back to the
window for another look.
Definitely not the electric guy.
I hid in the drapes and peeked again.
The man was still
there, motionless. Worse, I noticed another person in the same
crouched position, wearing a white head covering. They both faced the
street.
I can't believe burglars are here.In the suburbs.
In my bushes.
I slithered from the safety of the drapes, and slunk along the wall toward the phone to call 911.
The people outside hadn't moved. They held utterly still, facing away from me.
I looked closer. There was something familiar about the pair.
A dark haired man. A woman with a white veil.
Sheepishly I turned off the vacuum and set the phone down.
I'd almost called
in an intruder alert on the plastic figures from our nativity scene.
The nearly
life-sized Joseph and Mary were bowing, focused on plastic baby Jesus.
As my heart
slowed its frenzied conga beat, a thought struck me:
Will I make Jesus
my focal point this Christmas, or put him on "intruder alert"
status?
Will this holiday
season be so filled with my to-do lists that I neglect faith, family,
and friends?
"Sorry, I
don't have time to spend with you; I'm too busy doing things for
you."What's on our to-do lists this season? Shopping, baking, parties? I love it all!
But are we so
caught up in Christmas busyness that we neglect the reason for it
all?
The reason for Christmas is this:
"For the Son
of Man (Jesus) came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10.
Who's lost? All of
us without Jesus.
Instead of putting
him on intruder alert, we can invite him in.
It's simple.
"Jesus,
please forgive my sins, and be my Savior."
If we do that,
we'll get the most amazing gift ever-a new life!
And as for our
to-do lists? Let's put those on "intruder alert" status. 