Thanks To Dennis O'gorman For This ...

(Thanks to Dennis O’Gorman for this illustration). Ernie Smith was a bit odd, but he was a good man. For Ernie every day was Christmas. Each day he switched on his Christmas tree lights. His house was full of cards.

As he passed people in the street he would wish them a Happy Christmas! On Valentine’s Day he wished people a Happy Christmas! On Bonfire Night he wished people a Happy Christmas! All through the year, each and every day he wished people a Happy Christmas! One warm summer day his family visited him. They went to the beach to enjoy the sun and looked forward to a bar-b-q back at Ernie’s house, but instead he gave them Turkey, the trimmings and tinsel! They enjoyed the meal even though it was a hot summer day and Ernie wished them all a Happy Christmas! On Easter Day his family gathered and they expected to exchange Easter eggs but for pudding that day Ernie served up mince pies and Christmas pudding, and he wished them all a happy Christmas. “Ernie”, they asked, “Why are you celebrating Christmas when it’s Easter?” Ernie replied, “Jesus was born so that he could live and teach and heal people and then die on a cross and rise again. Easter is possible because of Christmas.”

Each and every day Ernie celebrated the coming of Jesus into the world and whilst I won’t be wishing you a happy Christmas every day that I see all of you I do thank God every day for his wonderful, priceless gift of Jesus for me, for you and for the whole world.

In the Bible we read this: “Let us thank God for his priceless gift” (2 Cor 9:15).