Jesus came because of Ebeneezer Scrooge.
Charles Dickens’ grumpy character in Dickens’ classic novel, The Christmas Carol, was certainly one of the most detestable characters in literature. And one of the most miserable. Dickens writes,
“Oh. But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone , Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner.”
A sinner.
He was all wrapped up in himself. He seemed to enjoy making others miserable.
But, do you remember the end of the story? Ebeneezer Scrooge was converted. He became the poster child for Christmas. Dickens says,
“It was always said of Scrooge that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.”
The worst violator of Christmas became the best at keeping it.
Now THAT’S a conversion! Dickens didn’t call it a salvation experience, but that’s exactly what it was. And is for you and me.
We couch the season in family time and Christmas trees and lights and gifts and Silent Nights and Jingle Bells. But Christmas is about sin. Ebeneezer’s and ours. Nobody likes to talk about sin, especially at Christmas.
But our sin is the reason for the season. Not Jesus. Jesus came because God needed a way to free us from our sin. I need to do a better job of remembering that. How about you?
For His Glory 
Amen. I absolutely need to remember Jesus came to die for our sins, especially this time of year. Loved the use of Scrooge as the example of a sinner. Scrooge is one of my favorite stories because of the transformation. Thank God that He allowed His son to come to earth to die for a wretched sinner like me.
LikeLike
Amen. Thanks, Mary, for your thoughtful comment. Have a blessed Christmas.
LikeLike