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PROGRAM D-7210

If you want to have a merry Christmas, have a merry heart!  Soon we will be enjoying joyful celebrations of Christmas with friends and family.

But some of you may be wishing this season would end quickly, because you don’t feel so merry.  What is lacking in your life today that hinders you from having a merry Christmas?  Is it love—love from a special man or woman?  Is it money—not enough to go around?  Is it friendships—no really close friends in your life?  Is it healing—healing from past hurts and circumstances?  Is it physical—lack of good health?

Whatever it is that’s missing in your life, determine to give that very thing away. In order to reap a harvest, a farmer must sacrifice a little of his crop for seed in order to produce a much larger crop.  Jesus told us that we reap what we sow.  That principle holds true through all of life.  And remember, you reap more than you sow, and you reap in a different season than you sow.

What do you need today?  Sow it.  Give sacrificially—to the point that you feel it.  Give time you don’t have to give.  Give love you don’t even know you have.  Give pleasant words you didn’t know you could say.  Give a cheerful look even if you don’t feel cheerful.  Sow, sow, sow what you need!  That is what you’ll reap.

When we feel needy, our usual reaction is to expect our needs to be met before we can give anything to others.  We’re expecting others to meet our needs. But if we would practice this principle of sowing and reaping, and give to others what we need most, we’d discover that by giving it away, it comes back to us in greater measure.

What will happen to you when you develop this merry heart?  Proverbs 17:22 says “A merry heart does good like a medicine.”  Your merry heart will begin a healing process in you.  Proverbs 15:15 says “…the cheerful heart has a continual feast.”  You won’t be lacking the things you need.

So, I pray for each of you a truly Merry Christmas, one that begins inside of you because of Jesus and what he’s done for you.  Then you’ll be able to have a merry day not only on Christmas, but throughout the year.