The Wile E Coyote Principle

"Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling." (Prov. 26:27)

As I consider this text, I cannot help but think of Wile E. Coyote. Do you remember him from the Road Runner cartoons, one of my favorites growing up. He was always trying to catch the Road Runner, and yet every evil plan he concocted backfired on him. That coyote was flattened by falling rocks, run over by trucks, and had more dynamite blow up on him that anyone could endure. He was one indestructible coyote, but everything failed.

God's Word says that when we plan for evil toward others, it always catches us instead. I was reading the book of Esther again this morning. A man by the name of Haman was angered because Mordecai the Jew did not show him the honor and respect that he wanted. So he concocted a plan to destroy all of the Jews. But in the providence of God, Esther whom Mordecai had raised had become Queen. She had gained the King's favor, and she brought about a reversal of fortune for Haman. The gallows that Haman had built to hang Mordecai became his own death instrument.

We need to remember to always do good and to please the Lord. God said, "Vengeance is mine." I think one of the reasons we are hesitant to leave things in God's hands is that we think God will treat those whom we are upset with the same way that He has treated us. We are afraid that He will show them mercy. Aren't you glad that God did not give you what you deserved?

Merry Christmas

"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light - a light that wil shine on all sho live in the land where death casts its shadow. " (Isaiah 9:2)

These words are spoken through Isaiah the prophet about 750 years before Jesus Christ would be born. It is a promise that God is going to bring light to people who have lived in the darkness of death because of sin. It is the promise that God is going to bring life and peace and hope where there has been none. And we discover in v. 6 that this light is going to come in the form of a "son" to be given.

The promise is that this "son" will establish the Kingdom of God and that there will ultimately be no end to His rule. It is an incredible promise. This one along with many others were prophecies that were fulfilled when a baby was born of a virgin named Mary in the city of Bethlehem, now nearly 2000 years ago.

It doesn't matter if they change the name to "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings". Ultimately Christmas is all about the Christ who came and dwellt among us, as John tells us in the first chapter of His Gospel. We don't have records in a courthouse of the exact date that Jesus was born, but we know that He came in the humblest of ways. He came to save us from our sins. He came to save us from death. He came to be our Savior. "And His name will be called Jesus."