Lessons from A Christmas Carol

by John Earp

In the classic Dickens story, “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge is confronted with what his life has been, is, and apparently will be. For me, the most moving part of the story is when Ebenezer, now broken down by all that the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future have shown him, cries out in painful desperation, “Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only? Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead…But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!”

Thankfully for Ebenezer, the story goes on to reveal what common sense, conscience and the Scriptures tell us all–that our choices can indeed make a real difference in the future, whether for good or bad. Scrooge becomes a changed man because he believes implicitly that he can indeed alter his own future. The future which he had been shown was contingent, and would have come to pass, had he not changed.

In the Holy Scriptures, mankind is faced over and over with statements like, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve,” and “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” and that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should be brought to repentance.” Biblical repentance is a change of heart, a change of mind, a change of one’s purpose of life. Christmas does nothing if it does not bring us hope for a better future and, indeed, change we can really believe in. What is it in your life that you know needs to change? Rather than “turning over a new leaf,” as they say, why don’t you make this Christmas a true season of positive, Christ-glorifying change in your life as you look to Him in faith for the grace and power to change?