While shopping at the grocery store, during one of my many trips there over the Christmas season, I saw a shelf holding several coffee mugs. The mugs were nice enough, but what really caught my eye was the shelf label which read, “MUG WITH CHRIST.” My first response was amusement as I tried to determine just how this might work. Was Jesus hanging out in the staff lounge, waiting to accompany the buyer home? Did the cashier have to activate a gift card to be redeemed later? What happened if more than one mug was purchased at the same time? Silly questions, I know, but the Lord gifted me with an off-beat sense of humor, and He knew how to get my attention. I finished my shopping and left the store, but thoughts of those mugs never really left my mind. I began to look at my own preparations for Christmas and wondered if I was including Christ in the celebration of His birth. Did I remember Him when I bought and shipped gifts to friends and family? Did I acknowledge Him when I set out decorations or baked holiday treats? Did I include Him when I attended Christmas Eve services? If I received a report card on my inclusion of Christ in Christmas, I wouldn’t have failed, but the Teacher may have checked the box that read, “Needs Improvement.”

    As I write this, Christmas has come and gone, and we have celebrated the start of a fresh, new year, but the Lord has good news for all of us who need improvement. God’s grace isn’t available to us only at the end of one year, or at the beginning of another, but it is new every single morning. Lamentations 3:22-23 reads “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”

    I am reminded of a scene in the Lion King, where Rafiki, who my research shows is a mandrill and not a baboon, smacks Simba. When Simba questions why Rafiki hit him, Rafiki replies, “It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past.”  I don’t believe Rafiki really meant that Simba’s history didn’t matter, only that it didn’t have to determine the future. Like me, have you made mistakes? Have you failed to include Christ in your Christmas, or any of the other days of the year? Our pasts are important and even useful, but our past mistakes do not have to define us. Today is a new day, a new chance for repentance and renewal. Whatever we decide to do today, let us make sure to include Christ in our every decision, our every step, and our every moment. We cannot change the past, but by asking the Lord to walk with us, we can manage the present and, possibly, help to shape a better future.