Around this time of year people around the world will often ask the question, “What do you want for Christmas?” This question is answered in several different ways by people of all ages. Some will say that they don’t want anything. Others will list something very practical and possibly even something that they really need. However, I want you to imagine for a moment that this question is asked of a young, energetic child who has been thinking about this question since last Christmas. This child is so excited about Christmas that he or she, with perfect recall, can instantly tell you everything that they have ever wanted, and the sky’s the limit. Maybe this child runs back to his or her bedroom and pulls out the list on which the child has been working for months. Sometimes the things on such a list don’t even exist, and that can present a challenge within itself. Imagine a child in a toy store where every toy is instantly the newest favorite thing, that is until having gotten the toy, it is either broken or boredom set in less than five minutes later. Within the question, “What do you want for Christmas?” is a lesson that I think we all need to hear, and it has nothing to do with Christmas.
When we read about God in the Bible, we read about an all-powerful, all-knowing and ever-present God Who is holy, good, just, loving, merciful and gracious. In fact, His very being defines these words to perfection. God alone is good (Luke 18:19). God is love (1 John 4:8). He is holy (1 Peter 1:15–16). He is the exact God that we and all the world should want. After all, mankind has invented “gods” for himself for generations, and it has always contributed to mankind’s downfall. Think about it for a moment. People have worshipped rocks, statues, thoughts, feelings, material items, money and so many other things. Do any of them even come close to comparing to the one true God (1 Timothy 2:5)?
The question I think all people, those in the world and those in the church, need to ask themselves is, “Do I want the God of the Bible?” For many, they will say they want nothing to do with God. Others will say they want God but only when it is convenient for them and only the parts of God they like because they are not interested and have grown bored with the rest. Yet, there will be those few (Matthew 7:14) who say and prove through the way they live their lives that they not only want God, but they need God. May we like Joshua in Joshua 24:15 choose to “serve the Lord,” and prove through the way we live our lives that we both need and want all of God.
