They say this time of year is very depressing for many people. The peace of Christmas and the forgiveness of New Year's is for many beginning to wane and the harsh reality of high credit card bills accompanied with the dreary sunless days is slowly, almost surreptitiously, settling in. Many resolutions have been thusly shattered and the temporal fulfillment of bright shiny new toys, fresh pine trees, gifts carefully and cleverly hidden by shiny red paper and topped with bright yellow bows is just that, only temporal.
Sooner or later, jobs we don't really like beckon us and those we love seem to go away while those we don't too much care for seem here to stay. We wonder to ourselves and sometimes even out loud if it ever changes, or are doomed to life of meaningless repetition; a rat race whose blue ribbon participant is rewarded with only another rat race. It seems inescapable, inexplicable, and impossible to rise above.
That is the very reason Christ urges everyone to keep their eyes focused on Him and the reward He offers, not the brand new Lexus or 10 bedroom house the world offers; we are to store our gifts in Heaven where rust will not be found and thieves are non-existent; where they are no credit card bills nor debt collectors and the interest is always 0%.
There are no races to run and no Jones' to keep up with; the streets are paved with gold and traffic is always light. The sea is crystal and the sky, if there is a sky, is probably a shade of some unknown perfect hue, maybe blue? Everything is new and every day is even better than the best Christmas ever known to me or you.
