Christmas Countdown and Quick Thought – Friday, December 18, 2020

7 Days Until Christmas!

Song: “Joy to the World,” by Whitney Houston
Christmas Album: “Christmas Album,” by Amy Grant
Christmas DVD: “Scrooge,” (AKA “A Christmas Carol”)
Netflix Movie: “Angela’s Christmas Wish”
Amazon Prime Movie: “A Very Country Christmas”
Disney+ Movie: “Noelle”
Hulu Movie: “The Christmas Calendar”
Hallmark Movie: “The Road to Christmas”
On TV:
• “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” 3:30 p.m., AMC
• “Merry and Bright,” 4 p.m., Hallmark
• “Christmas ala Mode,” 4 p.m., Lifetime
• “The Santa Clause 2,” 4:25 p.m., Freeform
• “The Polar Express,” 6 p.m., AMC
• “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,” 6:55 p.m., Freeform
• “Check Inn to Christmas,” 6 p.m., Hallmark
• “Merry Liddle Christmas,” 6 p.m., Lifetime
• Conference USA Championship Game: UAB at Marshall, 7 p.m., ESPN
• MAC Championship Game: Ball State vs. Buffalo at Detroit, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
• “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure,” 8 p.m., ABC
• Pac-12 Championship Game: Washington at USC, 8 p.m., FOX
• “The Christmas Caroler Challenge,” 8 p.m., CW
• “Four Christmases,” 8 p.m., AMC
• “Once Upon a Christmas Miracle,” 8 p.m., Hallmark
• “Christmas on the Menu,” 8 p.m., Lifetime
• “Elf,” 8 p.m., Starz
• “Jingle All the Way,” 8 p.m., TNT
• “Shrek the Halls,” 8:30 p.m., ABC
• “Holidays Unwrapped,” 8:50 p.m., Disney
• “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” 9 p.m., Freeform
• “The Toy Story That Time Forgot,” 9:15 p.m., Disney
• “Last Holiday,” 9:30 p.m., E!
• “Love Actually,” 10 p.m., AMC
• “Disney Holiday Magic Quest,” 10:05 p.m., Disney
• “Reunited at Christmas,” 11 p.m., Hallmark
• “A Christmas in Tennessee,” 10:03 p.m., Lifetime
• “The Star,” 11 p.m., Freeform
Recipe: Hot Cocoa

Quick Thought for Christmas

Read

Matthew 2:1-12

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:1-2

Reflect

In many traditions, we don’t celebrate the arrival of the wise men until 12 days after Christmas. That’s because it’s entirely likely that the wise men didn’t actually arrive until up to two years after the birth of Christ. Still, it’s important to note the contribution of these men to the Christmas season.

At some point before Jesus was born, God summoned men from other lands to come and pay tribute to His Son. How many men, we don’t know. Tradition says there were three because they brought three gifts. But there could have been more or less.

The important thing is that wise and educated men from far-off lands spent at least months and perhaps years traveling to Israel to see Jesus and present their gifts to the new King of Israel. They set aside their lives and their fortunes and risked a great deal. Travel in those days wasn’t easy and it was sometimes dangerous. Yet, to them, it was worth it. God had beckoned, and they answered the call.

Today, their example of gift giving is something we follow on Christmas morning. Except, instead of giving the gifts to Jesus on His birthday, we give them to each other. But when God calls us to do big and perhaps risky things, do we answer the call? That’s a much harder question to answer, isn’t it?

With just one week to go until Christmas, open your heart to what God may be calling you to do in your life. It might not be easy, and it might even come with a bit of risk, but when it’s God doing the calling, it’s always worth it to follow His lead and His ways.