“‘Tis the season” where we remind our children: “Be good, Santa’s watching.” Or, “you know, Santa can see when you are mean to your sister or brother, or when you don’t pick up your toys.”
It struck me that while Santa may see many things, as adults
we have someone much more important to answer to than Santa. Santa may know if
I have been naughty or nice, but it is God who knows what is in my heart and it
is God who gives us the eternal gift, life everlasting.
And while Santa may have more than one set of eyes through
us as parents; God, as the supreme parent, needs no eyes, and yet He can see
everything, everywhere. I recently heard a Christian business owner talking about what might correct the faults within the business economy, he said: “nothing in this world will change as long as we obey man’s laws” – and then he pulled out a piece of worn paper from his pocket and said: “this is the only thing that will change our outcomes – obeying God’s commandments.”
He proceeded to read: “I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain …. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor…You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.” Ex 20: 1-17 “‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments’” (Mt 22:37-40).
(“Have I treated people, events, or things as more
important than God?
Have my words, actively
or passively, put down God, the Church, or people? Have I harmed another through physical,
verbal, or emotional means, including gossip or manipulation of any kind? Have
I respected the physical and sexual dignity of others and of myself? Have I
taken or wasted time or resources that belonged to another? Have I gossiped,
told lies, or embellished stories at the expense of another? Am I content with
my own means and needs, or do I compare myself to others unnecessarily?”—USCCB
exam of conscience)
Wouldn’t this world, our economy,
businesses and relationships be different if we all obeyed these commands?
And it made me immediately think of
Father Larry Richards in one of his talks with the comment that “not many of us
ever confess to doing something against the very first commandment—that our
“strange gods” are not statutes and idols as they were in the Old Testament,
but rather that our gods have become the greed of materialism.” Exactly the
reason the business owner reminded himself each morning before he started work,
that his JOB wasn’t about money, but about serving others and about acting
towards others as if they were the Samaritan who was ignored, or the sinners
who were made first through the ministry of Jesus Christ.
So regardless of what my “job” is
today or tomorrow it is important that I remind myself that God is everywhere
and that God is supposed to be in charge of my work, that there is no “one,” no
“thing,” and no event more important than fully loving, fully serving and fully
knowing him. And that every choice I make should be directed to the choice of
Jesus—to know, love and serve others.
So much more concerning than Santa knowing
if I have been naughty or nice…. is that God knows my heart and as an adult I
have a much higher standard to live up to than do our children and that
includes teaching our children what it is that is truly important – God’s laws,
not man’s.
Heavenly Father, You command
goodness and give us your unconditional love. Help me to strive to behave in
the manner in which you created me – willing to obey You, willing to serve
others, and willing to be satisfied with all you have given me. Thank you for
the constant reminders that you are everywhere. Help me to keep my eyes and
ears open to your word. Purify my heart so that even when I fail, I will never
be afraid to return to the love of your waiting arms. Amen.
So the reminder that children are to be good for Santa is also our reminder that we are to answer to the God who is everywhere,
Blessings,
Charlotte
www.morningreflection.blogspot.com
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