. . . be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.  I Corinthians 15:58

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One of my yearly traditions for the Christmas season is to watch the movie It’s a Wonderful Life.  Each time I watch I am struck by the scene where the angel, Clarence, gives George Bailey the opportunity to see life as it would be if he had never lived.  What he saw startled him.  The town Pharmacist had become the town drunk because of a fatal error he made in a prescription that was discovered by his clerk, George Bailey (but who was not there to catch the error).  His brother would have drowned and therefore would not have been there to shoot down an enemy plane which subsequently sank a military transport resulting in the death of hundreds of sailors.  His uncle Billy was in the insane asylum having failed to keep Bailey Building & Loan open.  Bailey Park, the place where the less privileged were able to find home ownership, didn’t exist.  And even Mary, his wife lived as an old maid working as a librarian at the local library.  George Bailey wasn’t really all that heroic throughout his life, he was just always conscious about how he might help and lift up those around him.  Because of that his life made a real difference to person after person even though he never realized it. 

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            This scene ought to make all of us ask the same question that George Bailey was forced to face….do I make the world a better place?  Do I enrich the lives of others?  God has called each of us to bear fruit for Him and that our fruit would remain and make a difference in the lives of others so that their lives would be better because of us.   So often we measure the success of a life on what one has accumulated or their status in life.  I believe that the great measure of success is in the impact we have on others.  Perhaps we should measure each day by how my life has demonstrated the love of God to others that day. Everything perishes and will be forgotten in eternity while the souls that we touch will endure for eternity.  As we enter a New Year let us endeavor to express through simple practical ways the love of God for others so that our lives might make a genuine difference for good and for God.

Brother Tim