Dear Santa

Dear Santa

In his book Children’s Letters to Santa Claus, Bill Adler shares some of the funniest letters from the hearts of little boys and girls. Here is one of them:

Dear Santa,

“In my house there are three boys. Richard is two. Jeffrey is four. Norman is seven. Richard is good sometimes. Jeffrey is good sometimes. Norman is good all the time. (Signed) Norman.”^a

Don’t you love how Norman compared his behavior to his brothers’? We often do the same thing before God, as we compare ourselves to our peers. When we do this, we feel pretty good about ourselves.

Jesus tells a story of this dynamic in Luke 18:10-12: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’”

In the letter above, Norman represents the religion of “Do” that pervades so much of the religious thinking of this world. Do enough good, and you may just earn God’s approval! But the problem with this is that the standard keeps changing according to the actions of our neighbors.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is different. The gospel of Jesus Christ declares what was “Done” on our behalf to satisfy the just standard of God’s law. My friends, the number one distinction of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that what you cannot do in meeting the just standard of God, Jesus did for you two thousand years ago on a cross.

Is your faith one where you “Do,” in order to get ahead spiritually? Or have you fully trusted what God has “Done” for you in Jesus Christ?

It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!

Ephesians 2:5