I'm a believer

Overheard this morning:

"Well, we're believers, so..."

(Hmm, what's coming next?)

"We put out the cookies and milk tonight and hide all the presents until the kids are asleep. We went to see Santa at the mall and..."

The lengths that people will go to in order to make their kids think that Santa is real are unbelievable. I've heard stories of parents who put up the tree and all the decorations after the kids are asleep, explaining that Santa did it. All this to create a sense of wonder and amazement in some mythical jolly old soul. (I'm not knocking Santa or parents who tell their kids about him - just those that go way overboard.)

This is the same statement that many people make about people in my position. I've heard it said that my whole life is devoted to perpetuating a lie, to helping people believe in a merry old myth. The very first time I thought about going into the ministry, someone exclaimed, "No, you can't. What a waste! You could do so much." That cost me a couple years.

What's the difference? My life is different because of Jesus. No matter what Miracle on 34th Street says, no ones life is changed because of Santa. I'm changed. I'm a new person. My life has a meaning and a purpose that is bigger than me, bigger than my job or my bank account, bigger than my family, bigger than I can understand. I was a prisoner, but now I'm free. I was a slave, but now I'm a servant. I was lost, but now I'm found. I was scrap, but now I'm salvaged.

That's why I'm a believer.

That's why I do what I do.

And I never have to worry about the kids growing up and finding out the truth.