Linus was correct!

   Throughout my entire youth, I knew little about Jesus.  Sadly, there were only two witnesses to me which I recall about the identity of Jesus.  One of the two came from a character I was familiar with whose name is Linus.  Watching all of the Peanuts holiday shows from our television was an annual event in my childhood household.  One year when watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, where Charlie Brown and the entire group were involved in presenting a Christmas play, the monologue by Linus contained a message that resounded in my heart.
   Thanks to the Scripture from Luke 2:8-11 which was presented in the beloved cartoon, I learned of the proclamation of the good news that a Savior has been born.  I did not know what the Savior could save me from.  And I did not know how to receive the great joy that had been proclaimed.  Yet I did learn that God had made some glorious opportunity available.
   And now I answer those questions which were unknown by me for many years.  First: Why do we need a Savior?  Because God, the giver and sustainer of life, is Holy; perfectly good and loving.  Being Holy, He maintains a loving union with those who are made holy.  For us who have done anything wrong, which always interferes with a truly loving relationship, we need forgiveness, and we need to be enabled to enter an everlasting loving friendship with Him, which means we need to be enabled to be truly loving.
   Before I received Jesus as my Savior, I normally did not consider myself a person in need of a Savior, though there were windows of time when I sensed such a need, such as when I listened to Linus, and during a rough time in high school.  I rarely got into trouble in school, and I was Captain of the Safety Patrols, even earning an award for being the second best Safety Patrol in all of Fairfax County for the 1978 to 1979 school year.  Many people often wrote in my yearbook that I was a "nice" guy, and I earned the rank of Eagle in Boy Scouts with all three Palms.  At Virginia Tech, I was a Resident Advisor, and I received many compliments for that job which was done into my sophomore year, and then throughout my junior and senior year.  In my youth, I was only in a few fights, I only stole one library book, and once I stole a dollar (which I returned years later, after I became a Christian).  I rarely lied, and I only kissed two young ladies, one of whom was a Fairfax County police officer.  (A group of counselors and officers were playing a game when I was a counselor at the superb Fairfax County Patrol camp.)
   However, I easily recognize now that I had anger and lust in my heart which was ever increasing.  As a result, I increasingly did things that hurt myself, other people, and which interfered in developing a relationship with God.  Truly loving is not about being more caring than a bunch of other people, rather it is about being like Jesus.  Anything short of His love results in spiritual death, because eternal life requires true love.
   And secondly: How can a person receive the Savior?  By believing in Jesus (see John 11:25-26).  Jesus, the Messiah, the Hebrew word for Christ, died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Jesus spiritually died as the substitute for the consequence of wrong doings.  Jesus was the atoning sacrifice!  And then?  Jesus was resurrected.  If you believe in Jesus, you will have eternal life.
   Do realize that if you truly believe in Jesus, you will even be changed.  I have written in my journal many times; "The perfection process is a painful process, but the perfection process leads to goodness."  That change involves a lifetime sanctification process for a follower of Jesus.  Yet God will be there to rely on.
   I now believe with all of my heart that Linus was right: a Savior has been born.  You can believe in Him right here and now.

   Merry Christmas, and I hope this season is truly blessed for you.  Jesus loves you.
love, Hunter

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