Below is my comment on Steve Moss’ recent post entitled Reading the Word: Week of Jan 12.

I to have been remiss in my reading of scripture as of late. I took your lead and just read Psalm 50. I am humbled by my humanity. My life seems so busy and so crowded with tasks and responsibilities. 

Yet God is above all of that. He isn’t slowed down by the routine of the day. He sits upon His throne constantly and does all of His work without fail. 

Another thing that gripped me here is that God doesn’t need our sacrifices. In Israel’s case, they didn’t need to sacrifice bulls to feed God. God said that if He was hungry, He would get His own food. The point of this passage was that the heart in which sacrifice is given is of the utmost importance. 

Are you serving to satisfy God’s needs or are you serving with a heart of thanksgiving? Does God need you to teach Sunday School? Does God need you to be a greeter? Does God need you to preach? NO!

But He calls you to do it anyway. Why? To bring Him glory. To bring you, His child, into relationship with Him and to make you a part of His grandiose plan. We are privileged to be a small part of God’s work. Our attitude should be one of thankfulness and humility.

This was Manda’s and my first Christmas with a child. Having a child certainly changes everything. If you know what’s important, then it changes everything for the better. This holiday season (when I say “holiday” I mean the period from Thanksgiving to New Year) has been the most joyful for me because Stryder is here. 

He has no idea that these days are really any different than all the others, but he participates as he knows how nonetheless. 

Even though I got most everything on my list this year, the best part of it was watching my son experience his first Christmas. More specifically, my favorite Christmas memory for this year occurred on Christmas Day afternoon. Manda, Stryder and I piled into our bed to read the Christmas story in Luke 2. Stryder has taken to playing during story time since he’s so mobile now, but I think he still enjoyed it. After the story, we just played with him.

Please share your Christmas memories that were made this year…