I had one job. To tell my father if the fence slat was the correct height. My dad asked me, “Is it the right height?” I replied, “It’s good.” To myself, I was thinking, “It’s good enough.”
When I was nine years old, I helped my father build a picket fence in our back yard. It was a waist high, wooden fence for our new Toy Poodle, Tiffany. No, I didn’t pick the name!
My dad would place the vertical slats in the approximate place, ask me if the slat was the correct height, and each time I would reply, “It’s good.” I thought to myself that the slat was close enough to being the correct height, but I was a nine-year-old just eyeballing it. The next slat was also close enough, and along we went down the fence line. At the end of the fence row, you can imagine how far off the last slat was from the first slat.
Later, after my dad had inspected the fence and all of the vertical slats, he asked me if I could see alright. He told me I needed to go to the optometrist to have my eyes checked out, because obviously, I couldn’t see well enough to help him nail the slats on the picket fence at the correct height.
The problem wasn’t with my eyes, but it was with my willingness to settle for “close enough” or “good enough.” Over time, we drifted further and further away from the correct measurement.
In the same way, we can drift away from the original reason for celebrating Christmas. This movement away from the original is called vision drift. We have drifted away from a pure celebration of Jesus’ birthday at Christmas.
At this time of year, we are all thinking about Christmas: the lights, the decorations, the tree, the presents, and the Christmas services. But are we thinking about Jesus? It’s like going to a birthday party and ignoring the birthday boy. We celebrate Christmas because God sent His Son, who died for our sins and defeated death by rising up on the third day. Then Jesus passed the baton to his disciples, hence us too, that we need to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone.
Just as I had one job in telling my father if the slat was level, we have been left on this earth for one purpose and one purpose only. That is to share the good news of Jesus Christ. To be a witness and ambassador for Jesus. This is our sole purpose.
