No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
– Matthew 6:24
Charles Dickens’ most famous work, A Christmas Carol, has become a staple of Christmas traditions and is shared in many homes – regardless of religious beliefs. However, this charming and nostalgic tale is full of biblical values and retains a starkly Christian framework.
A Christmas Carol is quite like a biblical parable. It’s crafted to be subversive, entertaining, and relatable, rather than preachy, direct, or harsh, yet it is still quite thought-provoking and full of God’s desires and intentions for His people.
The next time you read, watch, or listen to this story, think about what in your life is taking God’s place as your master. A Christmas Carol urges us to look at our value system and at our priorities. Is there something fleeting and destructible (like Mr. Scrooge’s wealth) that you are afraid of losing? Something you find yourself clinging to at the sacrifice of other things in your life? Do you put in too many hours at work at the cost of your children’s recitals? Do you spend so much time redecorating and fixing up the house that you’ve missed your sister’s last few phone calls? Do your children put in hours playing games, building up a resumé, or investing in toxic relationships but struggle to work on knowing themselves or on building relationships with the healthy and loving people around them?
A Christmas Carol encourages us to step back. It is not meant to be condemning, but it is important to reevaluate often. Like the proverbial frog slowly boiling in hot water, how much of a “Scrooge” might you have become without even realizing it?
Do you need divine intervention to wake you up? Think about Scrooge’s nighttime “terrors.” While they are a fictional portrayal of an intervention leading to growth, I think it often feels equally dramatic and nightmarish. When God brings us closer to Himself, closer to real love, closer to community and to life, it tears us from what we think that we love. It is an unpleasant and often painful experience. When you lose the job that you loved or an unhealthy relationship ends, it feels like you are being wrenched from your own heart. The change is making you into someone you don’t recognize.
We often see that change as a negative thing, but when it is from God and it brings us into deeper faith in Him and closer to those that love, that is the redeeming power of God to bring about His intent in and for us, His creation. The thing that “made you who you are” is no more. He changes your ways and transforms your life. “Scrooge” is unrecognizable. You find the REAL love and the REAL you that was waiting there, planted by God, to bring you into true joy and fulfillment by bringing you closer to His own heart.
Leave a Reply