When you go to Malachi 3:1-4 you have an announcement of the coming of the Christ. The writer confronts us with this question: "But who can endure the day of His coming?"

 

Do you see what he is saying?  Not everyone will enjoy His coming. Not everyone will be excited, not everyone will celebrate.  Amazing isn't it.  But isn't that the way it is with Christmas for some people? Not everyone looks forward to Christmas.  To some it is just another day in the year.  For some this is the loneliest time of the year and on top of that

it is the saddest for them. 

 

Do you know of anyone who is like this?  How many people do you know are in nursing homes and don't want to be there because they have no one left to care for them?  How many do you know that this is their first Christmas in decades to be without their spouse, or have lost a child.  Not everyone will experience joy this Christmas.  So what will you do to help?

 

There was a man by the name of George Mason. He was a bachelor and spent most evenings at home alone.  He refused invitations to go out.  After a while people stopped asking him out.  That didn't bother him, because his life was completely absorbed in  his business.

 

Late one Christmas Eve, after the employees left, George went into the vault to get extra cash.  Soundlessly the vault door went shut and George was locked in.  He began to panic.  Desperately he pounded on the door.  Then he realized no one would hear him. Everyone had gone home.  Then he remembered this was Christmas and no one would be back for a couple of days.

 

He was afraid. He wondered if he would have enough air. He realized there was a safety hole built in so air could flow into the vault.

 

Christmas Eve and Christmas day came and went.  He was alone, as he usually was. But there was a difference.  He was uncomfortable, hungry and thirsty in the deepest darkness he had ever experienced.

 

The morning after Christmas the chief cashier arrived and unlocked the vault, but didn't open the door.  Without anyone seeing him, George staggered out of the prison and tottered to the water cooler. After a long drink, he took a taxi home and freshened up.

 

In a short time he was back at the office. Nobody asked him how he spent his Christmas. Nobody even missed him.  Nobody seemed to care.

 

After that George put a sign on the back wall of the vault. The sign was a reminder of those desperate hours.  It read, "To be indispensable somewhere, is the secret of happiness. To love people, is the purpose of life."

 

May I just say at this point that the most important possession we can have is a relationship with God and with others.

 

"Who shall abide the day of His coming?"  What does Jesus Christ mean to you? How is your relationship with Him?  Do you look forward to being with Him?

Merry Christmas.