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John Hembree

An Everyday Expression of Hope and Its Potential

An Everyday Expression of Hope 

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE…NEVER SEEN IT

December 22, 2011 by John Hembree Leave a Comment

There we were, the four of us sitting in a booth at the Waffle House and the conversation was varied and fast paced.  We were discussing theories of bank finance, currency exchange, global accounting and computer science back and forth, back and forth.

I being the least intelligent of the group began to ask questions about each field they either worked in or was their specific area of study.  Each topic ranging in levels of complexity.  After one question and answer regarding the stability of the banking industry and how it affects the rest of a nations economy I asked, “What would happen in this country if there was a run on the bank?”  They each looked at me as though I had asked the question in a foreign language.  “What’s that?”, one asked.  “What do you mean what’s that?”, I replied.

I then continued, “Didn’t you see It’s A Wonderful Life when they had a run on the bank and the town folk go to withdraw their money before the bank can fail?”  It was then that I realized we live in a country where three young men each older than twenty years of age had to confess both to me and to each other they had never seen It’s A Wonderful Life.

My disbelief was obvious.  How did this happen?  This very movie along with White Christmas and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is built into the very foundational bedrock this nation and it’s constitution was founded upon.  Well, that was  overstated, but not by much.

The obvious things we miss as Christmas passes by.

The nation of Israel was the same way.  For hundreds of years they had heard the prophecies that one day a prince would come, a king would be born, a star would shine and a people would be rescued and delivered.  It was right there in front of them.  It was an obvious sign of the season.  Yet when it happened, for the most part they missed it.

We each miss the obvious as well in our lives.  In fact, we as a nation have all but missed the same birth as they did over 2,000 years ago.  If questioned as to if we have yet found the true meaning of Christmas we would say, “No, I have not seen that.”  “Nope, missed that altogether.”  As my friends had lived through life not experiencing It’s A Wonderful Life, we also at times live out our lives not experiencing a wonderful life, our own.   Because we have missed the purpose  for which we were created… to believe, accept and live out the fact that a virgin could be pregnant and that a king could be born in such a non-kingly way.

Earlier this evening I asked multiple college age young people sitting around a living room how they would approach 2012 differently than they did 2011.  One said, “With diligence.  Diligence toward my physical health and my spiritual life.”  We each need diligence in the new year.  We need to approach 2012 with an attitude that activates what it says in Proverbs 4:23, “Watch over your heart with diligence…” It is followed by verse :25 which says, “Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.”

I am big on the word Hope and it’s meaning.  I am also big on other words like diligence, focus, locked in and determined.

As we approach 2012 and this Christmas season of 2011 soon comes to a close, we should each determine the areas of our lives that need a little more diligence and apply the necessary attention to the task.

Someone is somewhere right now praying that God send to them a ray of Hope, to send to them someone that is focused, determined and diligent and can help them discover the true meaning of Christmas.

Tag, you’re it.

JHH

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