BEING ENTHUSIASTICALLY HONEST!

It's the beginning of the year and my reading started in Genesis.  Genesis 23: 3-16 tells us about Abraham buying some Hittite land in order to bury his beloved wife, Sarah.  It goes something like this:
        Abraham:  I want to buy some land to bury my wife.
        The Hittites:  No one of us will refuse.
        Abraham:  If serious, I would like a plot from Ephron the Hittite.
        Ephron:  Oh, I won't sell to you, but I will give it as a gift!
        Abraham.  I insist!  I want to pay the price of the land!
        Ephron:  Well, if you insist.  What's 400 silver shekels among friends?

        Abraham accepted the offer and paid the sum.  Sarah was buried in the cave within the plot from Ephron the Hittite.

      There the story ends.  This was, and perhaps still is, the normal procedure in the purchase of something in the Mideast, at least it was in my experience. Everyone understood it.  The strange procedure to us gives both parties the advantage of appearing generous.  Yet, to my mind,
400 silver shekels must have been a large amount of money!  But, Abraham was a rich man and all new it.  All in all, everyone was satisfied.

     In what ways do we inhibit ourselves in order to appear polite? Probably many ways, but one thing does come to my mind.

Over the years, I have been in the habit of sending Christmas letters.  Now there are lovely Christmas cards out there; many of which we have purchased and sent.  But I have always included my letter within them.  These letters were not to just include what our children now number, but to especially show our gratitude and love for the Lord Jesus.  You see, I became a Christian as an adult and He is so very important to me and to my life and to my family's lives that I need to express it.  But last year one of my more distant relatives seemed distraught regarding our enthusiasm concerning God and wondered if we had become radical.

Meaning, have we gone crazy? Are we now far-righters!

Maybe!  Maybe we are a little crazy for Jesus. But we are not talking politics here, are we?

Now, the result of this is I was very careful about those letters this year. I only sent them to those I thought would enjoy a run-down of the kids; folded them, and wrote on the outside:  Kids News, if interested.. 

Cards to us sent after receiving ours said, "We missed your Christmas letter.  What's up?"

I guess you can be too careful not to annoy. Red Skelton used to say: "If I dood it I get a whippin'!  I dood it anyway!"

Next year, I'm sending an exuberant, joyful, praise-filled letter to all. "Damn the torpedoes!  Full speed ahead!!"    (I don't know who, but somebody said it!!)

Praise you, Jesus!  Jo