But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42

Pastor Klaus wrote this devotion before he left to lead a seminar in Germany. He prays God's blessings upon your Advent and requests your prayers for his safe return.

Do you remember the song, "All I want for Christmas is. . . ."?

If you're of age, I don't have to go any further. You've already finished the line. You can't help yourself. If you are younger and can't figure out how the line ends, don't feel bad, it's a cute song, but that's about it.

"All I want for Christmas is. . . ."

This year a lot of buyers for a lot of retail stores are doing their best to try and anticipate the answer to that question. These purchasers may not gaze into a crystal ball to get their answers, but if one were handy, many of them just might sneak a peek.

They want to know -- they need to know -- what people want for Christmas. If they order 100,000 of an item nobody wants, the boss isn't going to be pleased to have a warehouse filled with useless merchandise. If the buyers order 100 of some gift everybody just has to have, the lack of product to sell isn't going to improve the souring disposition of the higher-ups.
What will people want for Christmas?

Dallas-based Neiman Marcus is hoping they have found the right answer. Recognizing there are some folks who don't know a recession is going on, the store is selling a cupcake-shaped electric car for kids. Then, there's the charity dinner with some best-selling authors. (That one is selling for $200,000.) There is also a Neiman Marcus Jaguar priced a little over $100,000, and the store is offering the world's fastest electric motorcycle.

What will people want for Christmas? Naturally, Neiman Marcus recognizes some folks can't afford such gifts. One of the vice-presidents has assured buyers that 40 percent of the catalogue has items selling for less than $250.

What do you want for Christmas? How about a gift that is free? At least it's free to you. With all the buying and hoopla, it is right we remember God's gift to us is His Son. Jesus came into this world to be our Savior, our Redeemer, our Substitute, and our Friend.

And although we, because of our sinful natures, cannot say, "He is what I want," by the Holy Spirit's power, we most definitely can be given a faith which says, "Jesus is exactly who we need."

THE PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, my salvation has cost the life of Your Son. May I always appreciate the suffering He has felt, and the sacrifice He made so I might be saved. Living in His blood-bought forgiveness may I always be certain that Jesus is what I need. In His Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 79-80    Revelation 7

To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"