"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!" Not really--- Although I'd love to have lightly falling snow on Christmas mourning. I do dream of mysteriously finding a million dollars in my bank account and reading a scale that say's I'm 160 lbs. again instead of 180 lbs.
We all dream. What are you dreaming ? You may be dreaming of family on their way to your home for the holidays or that perfect meal your preparing for 12. Perhaps you are dreaming of wrapping a mountainious pile of presents or fighting cranky crouds for the most recent Hollywood induced craze! I once heard about a young man who dreamed on Christmas Eve. While most kids were dreaming of Santaand presents, this teenage boy dreamed about life without Christmas.
In his dream, the boy found himself up dressed very early in the mourning. Bouncing a ball and donned in his baby blue Nike warm-up suit, he ran down to the school to meet his friends. A plan to play a hot game of basketball had been brewing since the last day of school before Christmas break. Dumb founded, the young man saw only a vacant lot. Quickly, he turned around several times and he furtively checked the street sign to make sure he was on the right corner. He was. Finally, he saw a small yard sign in the middle of the lot that had once housed his school. It read, "If I had not come".
He hurried then to the Hospital, where some of his friends were to gather in the early mourning. They had eachbought and wrapped gifts for the children stuck in the hospital for Christmas. But there again he saw only a big empty space, and a similar sign: If I had not come."
Bewildered, he thought of the early mourning service at his church and ran there, expecting to join his parents at worship. Only he found another large vacant lot, and that same peculiar sign: " If I had not come." When the young man awakened, nuances of the dream teased him. "What did I dream? What did it mean?" Slowly, the message crept from his mind into his heart. What if Jesus had not come to Earth?
Education, Medicine and churches are not the only segments of society that the presence of of Christ has influenced. What about helping the needy? Or bringing social justice to the world? Or, the embracing of true freedom? The human heart touched by Christ changed the ancient world incredibly and still changes everything it comes in contact with. After all, where would we be if we hadn't learned forgiveness? What would our homes look like if we didn't serve one another?
What would bring joy even when suffering seems our plight in life? How would we find peace in a world of turmoil? What if we had never learned to turn the other cheek? What if Jesus had never come? I know only one thing for sure, and that is what kind of person I would be if I did not know Jesus. Believe me, it would be a nightmare. And that in itself compels me to to fall on my knees this Christmas season and sing" O night devine! O night when Jesus was born!"
This young man who dreamed was myself. Merry Christmas to all and to all I pray you find peace in Jesus.!