Ever since 1912, the year the United States Postal Service provided an actual address for Santa Claus, children across the country have been sending their Christmas wish lists to North Pole, Alaska, in hopes of finding their favorite things and dreams — tangible and intangible — awaiting them on Christmas morning.
We adults have our wishes, too, but we certainly don’t express them in a letter to Santa. Sometimes we don’t even express them in prayer. We’re too busy and perhaps even too jaded for that kind of effort and sometimes hopes and dreams seem a bit over-rated.
However, if we analyzed our wish lists closely enough, we would likely see that at the root of every one of our wishes is a yearning for something more — something lasting. It’s a hope, dream and a quest for peace that’s not new with our busy, tech-saturated generation.
Adam and Eve first lost their peace and union with God in the garden long ago, and ever since then, mankind has been on a continual hunt for the lasting peace that only comes from a relationship with God.
The good news is that this peace is a free gift from God and once we have it, we never lose it. We may lose sight of it every once in a while in the busyness of life and the cares of this world, but it’s always there waiting for us.
Some children will receive everything on their Christmas wish lists this year. And some, we know, will not. That’s to be expected when trusting in a man-made tradition, as fun and heart-warming as that tradition is. Santa Claus may go by Kris Kringle and Saint Nick, but he will never go by Prince of Peace. That name alone goes to Jesus Christ, who is waiting to give us what we really want the most and need this Christmas. Our prayer is that this peace is fully yours this Christmas and always.
“For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6
