Christmas! How’d you like the sound of that word in mid November? Does it send shivers down your spine? Does it make your heart beat a little faster (in a good way, not a heart attack way)?

I had a little foretaste of Christmas this past weekend. It came completely out of the blue. There were no lights, decorations or canned Christmas music. But there was no mistake, this was a taste of Christmas to come.

My wife, Lily, had seen an ad for a product we wanted to get for one of our kids for Christmas (I can’t tell you for whom or I’d have to kill you). The product has to stay a mystery as well, but I will tell you that Best Buy was involved.

Lily noticed that this particular item was on sale, and rather than taking our chances closer to Christmas, she suggested we go and pick it up now.

“Christmas shopping on November 9, that’s crazy!” I thought. Then she suggested that I go and purchase it. Me, doing Christmas shopping in November? Doing Christmas shopping before mid December? There had to be a mistake.

But I had heard her correctly. So, off I went to wrestle me an early Christmas present. I pictured the store to be busy, people everywhere, pushing, shoving, trying to get the last item on the shelf.

But when I walked into Best Buy, it was all orderly, quiet, uncluttered by people or displays of merchandise. I thought to myself, “This has got to be the easiest Christmas shopping I’ve ever done!”

No pressure, no heavy coat, it was easy to get around the store. I thought, “Maybe I should start shopping early every year. What if I had all my Christmas shopping done by the end of November? … on second thought, it’s not going to happen.

Just as I was starting to feel good about my early Christmas shopping, I spotted a line of people. The farther I looked, the longer it got. I noticed that most of the people coming in the store were going directly into that line.

It was massive; the line of people curled around the length of the store. I wanted to avoid it in case there was something catching in that line. I stayed clear, but I kept my eye on it, in case it got closer to me.

I asked someone what was going on, and was told it was a video game exchange. She said something about bringing in two old games and getting some discount on a new one.

As I looked at the people in line out of the corner of my eye, it looked like they were in good cheer, like they were happy to be in that line. They seemed to be excited about what they were going to get.

I kind of felt like I was missing out, not part of it, like I was an observer and not a participant. It almost made me want to go home, grab a couple of old video games (my son’s, don’t tell him), and come back to join in on what everyone else was doing.

But I don’t like lines, and I probably wouldn’t like the video game anyway. Since I wasn’t motivated, I headed straight for the exit – good thing the cash line was empty.

Here’s the thing: Church should be a foretaste of heaven, with fellowship, joyful singing, gratefulness, connecting with God. If church isn’t a glimpse of heaven for you, are you participating in such a way to bring it about?

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to motivate you to make your church experience a foretaste of heaven? Leave your comment below.