2 Days Until Christmas!
Song: “O Holy Night,” by Johnny Mathis
Christmas Album: “Home for Christmas,” by Amy Grant; “A Christmas Album,” by Amy Grant; and “A Christmas to Remember,” by Amy Grant
Christmas DVD: “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947)
Netflix Movie: “That Christmas”
Amazon Prime Movie: “Miracle on 34th Street (1947)”
Disney+ Movie: “The Santa Clause,” “The Santa Clause 2,” “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” and “The Santa Clauses”
Hulu Movie: “The Polar Express”
Max Movie: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
Hallmark Movie: “Northpole”
On TV:
New programming in bold
Annual Christmas classics in bold red
• Boca Raton Bowl: Louisville vs. Toledo, 2 p.m., ESPN
• “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas,” 5 p.m., Disney Jr.
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 5:05 p.m., Freeform
• New Orleans Bowl: Southern Mississippi vs. Western Kentucky, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 5:45 p.m., AMC
• “Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas,” 6 p.m., Disney Jr.
• “The Christmas Spark,” 6 p.m., GAC
• “Christmas Under the Stars,” 6 p.m., Hallmark
• “Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays,” 6 p.m., Hallmark Drama
• “Homegrown Christmas,” 6 p.m., Hallmark Mystery
• “Merry Swissmas,” 6 p.m., Lifetime
• “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 6 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., Bravo
• “Disney’s Prep & Landing,” 7:20 p.m., Disney
• “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” 7:45 p.m., Freeform
• “The 48th Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” 8 p.m., CBS
• “Elf,” 8 p.m., AMC
• “Chasing Christmas,” 8 p.m., GAC
• “Christmas at the Catnip Café,” 8 p.m., Hallmark
• “The Santa Stakeout,” 8 p.m., Hallmark Drama
• “Mystery on Mistletoe Lane,” 8 p.m., Hallmark Mystery
• “Christmas Everyday,” 8 p.m., Lifetime
• “Meet Me in St. Louis,” 8 p.m., TCM
• Frisco Bowl: Ohio vs. UNLV, 9 p.m., ESPN
• “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 9:45 p.m., Freeform
• “The Wizard of Oz,” 10 p.m., AMC
• “Let It Snow,” 10 p.m., GAC
• “The Christmas Baby,” 10 p.m., Hallmark
• “Northern Lights of Christmas,” 10 p.m., Hallmark Mystery
• “In the Good Old Summertime,” 10 p.m., TCM
• “Deck the Hallways,” 10:03 p.m., Lifetime
Recipe: Perfect Cranberry Sauce
Quick Thought for Christmas
Read
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
Luke 2:15-16
Reflect
Have you ever gotten some very good advice to do something, but held up from doing it because you just weren’t ready. I can’t count the times that I should have done something, only to find out later that I missed the chance; had I acted, I would have benefitted in a significant way.
Imagine if you had $1,000 to invest on August 19, 2004, the day that Google released its initial public offering. A friend told you that it was a can’t miss investment, but instead of investing, you held on to that money because it just seemed too risky. That $1,000 would have gotten you about 12 shares of stock. But instead, you buried it under a rock. Today, your $1,000 would be worth about $1,470, adjusted for inflation. But if you’d bought just 12 shares of Google back then, your stock value today would be roughly $34,000. If only you’d moved on that unheeded stock tip.
Waiting can be costly if the time to move is right now.
On that first Christmas Eve, shepherds standing in their field were greeted by an angelic host and were told, “There’s something wonderful going on in Bethlehem that you should see!” They had a choice – they could continue to stand there in the field, watching the sheep and getting cold, or they could go and see if the wonderful thing was truly there. Few could have blamed them if they hadn’t gone. After all, it was an outlandish claim made by what could have been attributed to a hallucination.
But these shepherds saw something else. They believed what they had seen, and they decided immediately: “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They didn’t wait, and because of their immediate action, they were eyewitnesses to the most historic birth in the history of the world.
We won’t often be given such amazing spiritual opportunities. But God does frequently call each of us to some sort of action. And each time He does, we have the option to get up and move, or sit and wait it out. In these last two days leading up to Christmas, keep a keen eye and ear out for what God is calling you to do. It may be something as simple as putting a quarter or a dollar in a Salvation Army kettle. Or it may be more. But when He puts something on your heart, don’t wait. Because you may just miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime.
Reflection copyright © 2025 by Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.