What If?

What If? This can be one of the most revealing questions of our time. In actuality, it can be one of the most stirring questions ever. Each generation would be able to say, what if? What if Dr. Frederick Banting and Charles Best had not collaborated and had not come up with insulin? After all he did register as a divinity student in his first year at the University of Toronto. Wouldn’t our world be different? And how about Louis Pasteur and pasteurization of milk? Did you know that he studied art and wanted to be a painter?
What if DiVinci had never been born? Following his life you would think his greatest accomplishments were in art. But would we still have the helicopter or tanks or even solar power? Would this world be the same if there were no villains and heroes?
You may think this far fetched because in actuality we take most all of them for granted. They came into this world, performed their duty if you will and then died leaving others to carry on where they left off. We praise those who have contributed to our society with plaques and monuments. The more important by the worlds standards, we remember for thousands of years. Those who have not added much to society are soon forgotten in a generation or two. Does anyone know who Thomas Hornor or Thomas Watson were?
Most of the time we celebrate their existence and their contribution with yearly celebrations. This has not always happened. Do you think people 50 years after Di Vinci died had an anniversary for him? Not likely. But one person is always remembered. And that person is Jesus Christ.
What if He had never come? What if the world was still waiting for a saviour? What if we really don’t need that saviour? If He had never come we would not have Christmas and peace, joy to you. There would be no 6 weeks of shopping for gifts, no holly and the ivy, no carols to sing, no cards to write, no nothing. Just a cold bleak winter to endure. But He did and He does. And each Christmas we celebrate His coming to earth. Year after year, generation after generation we come to Christmas just long enough to remember Him.
What would our world be like if there was no God? If there was no ideal or role model to look up to? What would we be living up to? There have been times in history when the world appeared to be falling apart. Many times it has been called civil war and people do what they want. The outcome is not pretty. There are no laws, no peace and nothing is safe. I believe that it is the presence of God in our lives that keep this world on track. He is here and He holds it all together. What if? This year, our North American culture will celebrate Christmas, even without knowing Him. Two thousand years have gone by. Year after year the world stops, if only for one day, to celebrate the birth of the Jewish baby of Bethlehem.
There are people out there who maybe only come to church once or twice a year. I don’t care if you only come once, because in coming you tell me volumes. Let this Christmas be the year you come and pray, thanking God for sending Jesus. Because in celebrating Christmas you are recognizing God is still in control and He is still in your heart.
Rob
PS. If you want to know, Thomas Watson and his cousin started the town of Princeton Ontario and naming it after Hornor’s hometown of Princeton NJ.