Christian Devotionals and Scripture Applied to Everyday Life

I heard the rumble coming down the lane and turned my head towards the window. I caught a fast glimpse of brown before the door opened and our smiling UPS delivery man stepped into the office. He handed me my package and we exchanged brief pleasantries while I signed the electronic device he always carried with him. Upon my handing him the machine, he waved and in a flash he was gone, leaving me to listen to the rumble of the truck as it retreated back down the drive. 

The Christmas season is one of expectations. There are very few in our consumer-oriented culture who escape the desire for something special and magical to happen Christmas morning. From the time we are children we are conditioned to ask for things we want and then hope that our desires will be fulfilled in the package under the tree.

"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail." This is one of the first lines from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I heard it again for probably the hundreth time on Saturday night when our family attended a live radio production of this classic at our town's historic opera house.  As we listened to the story with friends of ours portraying the ghostly voices and colorful characters, I was again transported back in time to consider the life of Ebenezer Scrooge.

'Tis the season again - basketball season! It is ushered in by long practices, sweaty uniforms, buzzing clocks, and noisy crowds. I love sitting in the warm gymnasium (as opposed to the cold football stadium) and seeing the players and action up close. Being in a packed gym lends itself to participating in a much more intimate way. Yet there is something I don't like!

I love to read and learn. The funny thing is that the more I learn the more I realize I don't know. The knowledge that I gain only draws me to the vast difference between humankind and God. Though some may have an expertise in a certain subject and someone else in another, the Lord's knowledge and wisdom is limitless in all areas. 

There are times in life when everything seems to dry up and fall apart. One day everything is going great and the next you are hit head-on by a slew of problems that threaten to crash your world. Our past few weeks have been like this.