Santa’s Spy

“You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought” Psalm 139:2 (Living Bible)

A family tradition still capable of evoking smiles even though our children and grandchildren are now grown is the myth of Santa’s elf. When the annual Christmas tree was set up, the elf was placed on a prominent branch of the tree. The children were then told that the Elf’s job would be to keep a secret watch on their activities until Santa’s scheduled arrival and then Mr. Elf would report all to Santa! The elf was moved daily to different “secret” locations in the house and the children would try to detect its location and would display extra exemplary behavior when they either detected it or suspected its presence.

Although we are aware that the elf’s watchfulness is just a myth, Christians should be cognizant that God’s Spirit is always with us. Further, unlike Santa’s elf, He is not a temporary onlooker. We claim to accept the idea of His omnipresence, yet we tend to forget that He is always there. If we review our yesterday’s activities, we might ask ourselves: “Do you mean that He was there when I ___? Or “Did He smile and show approval or did my actions bring tears to His eyes? Unfortunately, yesterday is gone and nothing can change our past acts whether they were good or evil. However, a whole new day confronts us. May all our words and deeds find approval in His sight. Amen