Revelation 20:12b – And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. (NKJV)

Recently, I saw a story in the newspaper from one of the southern United States. This particular place apparently has some type of "Social Register", a large book listing the socially in people in this community. If you were not listed, you were in the out group. The news story said a local family which had been very prominent in the past, was dropped from this issue, to make way for other people. Some family members were very angry that their family was no longer to be considered among the social select.

I didn't know there was still such a thing in print, anywhere, in the year of our Lord 1997. I wouldn't be in one. I suspect most people would not. People are busy with other things these days.

In the social structure of this particular town, either you're in or you're out. That's very much human nature. People divide into groups, from the schoolyard on up. The tragic thing is that after we split up into groups, then we reject and cut off the people we feel don't belong to our particular group.

It's not like that in God's kingdom! Everyone is wanted. All who want to be, can be part of the in crowd. Jesus said, "I will never turn away anyone who comes to me." (John 6:37b GNT) The songs and creeds of the Christian church say that the fellowship of the church is way, way beyond the people who meet for coffee at the end of the service. It is people around the world who have chosen to follow Jesus Christ.

Some people may feel that being part of the in social crowd is the most important thing in life. Each of us is called to follow our Lord. If we do, we will one day find our names in the very best book of all: the Lord's Book of Life!

Prayer: Lord, jockeying for position and status over one another is something we do far too well and far too often. May we see the world through Your eyes. There is no us and them, just people You love, and we are called to love, because we love You. Amen.

A couple of years ago, I was at a conference. One of the people there was a long-established and well-respected medical doctor who had a busy, downtown practice, full of corporate executives. One of the lines I heard during a break was "No one, on their deathbed, wishes they had spent more time at the office." I say: right!

People complain about the pressures in their lives. They are frantic to cram more and more in, running seven days every week. People have a nagging feeling that "this is not the way it's supposed to be". You're right, it is not. Go right back to the beginning — the creation story — and see how far out of sync with our humanity we have come.

In the first chapter of Genesis is the account of the creation of the world. There had never been a week in the cosmos like that first week of creation. And what did God do, after it was all done and everything was perfect? He took a day off and rested up. It looks like God's got more sense than many of us!

The idea of a day of rest continues down through Jewish history. The Jews of Jesus' time took the Sabbath so seriously, that when Jesus healed on that day, it was one of the first points of conflict between the Jewish authorities and the Lord. Jesus responded, "The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27-28 GNT)

People are not machines. There is a biological cycle of work and rest that is built into our very cells. Our body systems are designed to work each day and rest at night. Our body systems replenish and rebuild the body during sleep. We are literally re-created each night.

A modern word-picture is "burning the candle at both ends". Take a minute and consider what that does to the poor candle. Poor candle; poor you, if you do that. Just down the hall from the office that my doctor friend used to have is a door marked "Cardiac Stress Clinic." That door is busy, with people rushing in and out, to find out what shape their hearts are in.

My suggestion for you: take a time-management lesson from the One Who created time, and holds it — and eternity — in open hands. Be good to yourself and those you love. Take some time off. They say you should "stop and smell the roses." Please do, while you are still here to do so. Oh, one more thing: can you please pass this page along to those schedule-driven friends of yours? I don't think they are going to find the time to download it themselves. Thanks!

Prayer: Lord, may we all remember that our lives and our time are in Your hands. You have numbered the days of each one of us. Help us to use the time You have given us wisely. Help us also to remember that rest and recreation are better for us than much of what we think is important. For all this, we give thanks. Amen.

Bulge in the right pocket — that means I've got my wallet. Lump in the left-hand pocket. That's my house keys. Need those. Bump in the top pocket. I've got my pen. Bump in the back pocket; that's my comb. Lumps, bumps, and bulges everywhere. I need all those things so I can do my daily work. Yet, necessary as all those are, we should take other things along.

The apostle Paul wrote:

Ephesians 6:11 – Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. (NIV)

Paul was not shut away from the world. He was teaching and preaching Christ right in the middle of the great cities of his time. Life could be tough then, and it can be tough now. Real people have real problems. We face daily opposition. A few verses later, Paul uses the armour of a Roman soldier as an example of how we should gird ourselves for each day.

There are enough problems and challenges to fill every day. Yet, with our minds turned to God at the start of each day, fortified with God's Word, we will have all the armour we need for the daily battle.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we think so much in life is necessary, when, in Your eyes, it is not. Help us see that the one thing we should never leave home without is true faith in You, remembering our calling to be Your disciples. Amen.

Who would leave the shepherds out of the Christmas story? Not me, that's for sure. You see, I'm one of them.

The passage from Luke says there were shepherds in the fields that night, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Think about that for a moment. In his "Daily Bible Study", William Barclay says that shepherds were looked down upon because they couldn't keep up with all the ritual hand-washing and all the other myriad details of the Jewish religious laws. The shepherds were too busy looking after the constant demands of their sheep. Read the passage again. They were sleeping out in the fields with the sheep. It's winter and there are no creature comforts — just a bunch of guys doing their jobs on the night shift.

Christmas is for most people a family time. But look closely around you, and you will see some Christmas shepherds today: people whose jobs require them to be working, while you're enjoying the seasonal fun.

I invite you to take a moment and call the roll of your Christmas shepherds. Police officers, fire-fighters, heath care workers, utility crews, broadcasters, pilots and airport workers, train crews and bus drivers: this list goes on and on. And yes, computer people. Big data centres don't stop. Several years ago, I recall my supervisor saying she was going in for a 7 a.m. start Christmas Day.

Let's not forget clergy. While most of us are relaxing, women and men of the cloth have the added chores of preparing for a number of extra services, in a short period of time. They may be under extra pressure to minister to people they see only once every year, or to complete strangers.

While you're making merry, there's an unseen army of people on the job. I'll think of them this year, and the sacrifices they have to make over the holidays. If you're at a Christmas Eve church service, I'll say a prayer for you, and, if you want, remember me hard at work in the data centre. And may we both think of the Saviour, Whose coming is the reason for the season.

Prayer: Lord, Your angels were "on the job" when You were born on earth. They joined the shepherds in wondering at Your birth. In this season, help us to spare a moment to remember those who must work so we may enjoy our leisure. Let's remember especially those whose work brings them into danger. Amen.

Prayer: Lord, I thought we were supposed to pray and reflect about hope, love, joy, and peace this Christmas. Lord, help! For this year, I have sat by the terminally ill, and I did not see hope. Lord, I sat with the bereaved and mourning, and I did not see any joy. Lord, I read the headlines, and I don't see any peace. Worst of all, Lord, I look around at this uncaring, rush-rush, money-mad world, and I see so little love. Where are You, Lord?

Lord, maybe what I need this Christmas is a new pair of spiritual eyeglasses, ones that would let me see the hope and trust those ill people had in You, so even if they have died, as we on earth call it, we know they are alive forever in You. Maybe those glasses would let me see the loved ones of those who mourn, and see they are not in some box with handles, but are running, leaping, and dancing with You. Those glasses might let me hear better, too. I might hear You say "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Matthew 5:9 NIV) Then, I would see that any tiny effort toward peace is better than no effort at all. Perhaps those glasses might help me see that there is a little love bestowed in even a kind word, or a coin for some homeless person. For You did say that if someone gave even a drink of water, they would receive a reward. (Mark 9:41)

I guess, Lord, there is Christmas wonder all around us. Is it, "if only we had eyes to see it", or is it, "if only we took time to look"? This season, Lord, give us all childlike eyes so we may see the wonder, love, and joy again. Amen.

Many people, when they hear an aircraft passing overhead, will idly glance up, wondering who is going where, and perhaps wishing they were up there, not down here. Fewer people are aware of the vast electronic radar blanket that covers North America. Much of its mission is to keep an eye on those planes, and help them get safely down — kind of like God's ever-caring eyes.

Ever been out to an airport at night? There is a rainbow of coloured lights out on the field. I have a couple of friends who are pilots. They tell me that every light on that runway has meaning. Everything is working so that the aircraft will come to earth safely at the "touchdown point", about one third the way down the runway. Some lights make sure the aircraft is descending at the correct rate. There are bright white lights outlining the active runway, blue ones for taxiways, amber ones to say "caution", and red ones to say "stop". Sometimes, there are even "racing" lights, like on a sign, to guide the plane down. There is also a bar of lights intersecting with the runway lights, marking the beginning of the runway. My pilot friend says it looks like a gigantic cross in lights that is helping to guide him home.

Advent is a time like that. We are heading for Christmas, but we're not there yet. We need some time and space to guide us in toward the Saviour's birth. It literally takes a month of Sundays for the Christian church to consider the depth of the wonder of God-come-to-earth. Just as an aircraft uses the approach to the runway to get lined up correctly, we need the time of Advent to get our lives and our discipleship lined up and going toward Christmas. You and I both know the spirit of the season is too easily lost in the maul in the mall.

Prayer: Lord, as we make our "final approach" to Christmas, help us to stay on the right flight path. Guide us in to land this season, and bring us, discipleship intact, to a perfect touchdown at Christmas. Amen.

I've heard lots of sermons about trusting God with one's life. I still have trouble with that. I think that most twenty-first-century people want to be in charge of things and to run their own lives. They may have trouble believing that God is to be trusted, or even have trouble believing in God, period.

Jesus said, "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Luke 12:6-7 NIV) I think that little Alex, as he's called, at nine months, understands this better than I do.

I can be holding him during the fellowship hour, and he will nod off to sleep, right in my arms. He doesn't seem to care that I'm not one of his family. He has all the trust in the universe, as he snuggles in against my shoulder and drops off to sleep. To him, the world is a secure place, filled with loving people who care. He is free from grown-up hang-ups, and he can return that love freely.

Matthew's gospel records that one group of people who were full of grown-up concerns were the twelve disciples. They were asking, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Jesus took a small child, stood him in their midst, and told them, "Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:4 NIV)

In time, Alex will learn other things about trust; but for now, let's allow him to help us learn about trust in God's kingdom.

Prayer: Lord, in this busy world, full of so many things that we think are important, help us remember that You do care for us, as a parent cares for a child. Lord, if we became more like children, the better adults we would be! In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.