Something in the human heart desperately wants to believe. 

We started watching Christmas movies as soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers hit the fridge. Miracle on 34^th Street has long been one of our favorites. 

I don’t analyze every movie we watch, but this year, things just jumped out at me. Miracle on 34th Street centers on the tension between worldly success represented by Mr. Macy, Mr. Gimbel, and Doris Walker and Fred Gailey’s beloved intangibles fleshed out by Fred, Alfred, and Kris Kringle. Doris and Susie Walker struggle to believe in Kris. Others like little Tommy Mara believe wholeheartedly (because his daddy told him so). We smile and sigh because, all too soon, little Tommy will have to grow up and face the “real” world. 

Yet it’s the real world of “success” that drives belief in the story. Kris’s good will campaign of putting the customer first made Macy’s even more profitable which led to Mr. Macy’s court testimony on Kris’s behalf. The tension between logic and faith, goodwill and profit, judicial jurisprudence and the notion of Santa, drives the open-mindedness that keeps belief alive. What a classic!

We want to believe in a good that prevails. Fairytales, Santa Claus, and superheroes stir our hearts for a reason. We want to know true goodness exists. That when we make the right choice, it will pay off in the end. That our faith has substance. 

Hebrews 11:1-2 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” The next forty verses showcase those who took the plunge. 

Many of us have friends and family who have stopped believing. They’ve been burned, wounded, and bruised by broken humanity and even by the Church. 

Give them a reason to believe again.

Love them. Deeply. In spite of . . .

Love them the way our Jesus loves us. He’ll do the rest, because, like us, they want to believe.

Workout of the Week: I Believe

Memory Verse: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” Hebrews 11:1-2 NIV

Meditation Passage: Hebrews 11

Do It: Give someone a reason to believe again.