Santa’s Single Character Flaw

Most of us have at least a few character flaws. We have tempers and tantrums; we gossip and sometimes we even tell (ahem…little white) lies. But Santa, well, it seems as if Santa is pretty much perfect. I guess you could say he over eats, but he’s been around for a long time, so I suppose it hasn’t hurt him too much.
But, all things being said, Santa does have one very noticeable character flaw. Santa Claus is a procrastinator. He is. He puts off his one job per year until the last minute and then scrambles to get it done.
I recently read that if Santa left the North Pole and started in Kyrgyzstan and travels against the earth’s rotation (this, they say, is the most effective route), he would need 34 nanoseconds (per home) to deliver presents to the world’s 2.5 billion homes within the 48 hours of Christmas Eve-Day. Now, I don’t know what a nanosecond is, but it doesn’t sound like a lot of time.
Wouldn’t it make sense for Santa to deliver gifts to children all through the year? Think about it, he could start in Europe in January; go to Asia in February…well, Asia’s big and February is short, so he might take March for Asia as well. He could swing over to Australia and New Zealand in April. Do you think Aussie kids leave Santa a vegemite sandwich near their stockings? He could come over to the Americas in May and June and then be done with it! And he’d still have 6 months of prep time!
You see, if Santa would co-ordinate a little, his life would be a lot easier and stress free. Why leave the job to the last minute? Why leave yourself with 34 nanoseconds per home? Why deliver presents to 2.5 billion homes around the world in just one day?!
Santa Claus procrastinates. Now, I know what you’re thinking, chimney calling the coal black (I didn’t get this in till its due date); but, the interesting thing about Santa is he’s always on time—me? Well, let’s not go there. Santa is never late and he rarely (if ever) forgets anyone.
In that way, Santa is a bit like God.
God is always on time. We may think He’s going to be late, we may think He has forgotten us, we may think we’ve been left on our own, but it’s not so. God will not be late, He will never forget us, He will never abandon us. He promised us so!
My favorite Christmas verse in the Bible is not a traditional Christmas verse. It comes from the book of Galatians 4:4 “but in the fullness of time, God sent His Son...”
In other words, “at exactly the right moment, God sent exactly the right person, to do the exact thing that needed to be done”.
My comfort in difficult times is that God has promised me a few things:
1. He would never forget me “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5)
2. He would always love me “Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38)
3. He would take what ever bad I’ve been through and make it work for my good (Romans 8:28)
So, if you are going through a difficult spot this Christmas season, find comfort in God’s promises. You can find them in the Bible; you can hear about them in church, you can see them played out in the lives of His people. Believe them; they are for you, too.
Our Christmas Eve service is at 6:30pm, please join us!