Scrooge: A 5 Day Devotional Based on the Charles Dickens' Classic TaleSample

The First of Three Spirits: The Ghost of Christmas Past

A Challenge to Choose Joy

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… right? Maybe Christmas was just that—wonderful—when you were a kid, but as your life has unfolded, it’s probably become a lot less wonderful and a lot more stressful.

Why is that? Where has the magic of Christmas gone?

For so many of us, Christmas is the exact opposite of joy. Like we said yesterday, we’re busier than ever this time of year. As a result, our lives are lacking the key factors that make this season special: wonder, innocence, and peace.

Our good friend Scrooge probably knows those feelings of un-joyfulness better than anyone, but what we learn from his run-in with the Ghost of Christmas Past is that his signature sour attitude wasn’t always his calling card. There was a time when Scrooge wasn’t so Scrooge-y, a time when he was simply Ebenezer, or Eben, as his sister Fan called him.

But Eben—like too many of us—didn’t hold onto that childlike innocence. Instead, he had a father whose irresponsible choices landed him in debtor’s prison, blaming the excesses of the holiday for his predicament. Perhaps predictably, Eben lost his sense of innocence and wonder. (Side note: if too much Christmas shopping is the reason for ending up in debtor’s prison, he probably had some bigger issues to work through.)

Though our own crossroads might not be as black and white as Scrooge’s were—hate Christmas forever or risk disappointing your dad—we’re all confronted with choices in life: the choice to choose others, kindness, and wonder, or the opposite: to choose ourselves, selfishness, and bitterness.

And that choice isn’t always an easy one to make—no matter how many cookies we bake, family members we get together with, or Hallmark specials we watch. Christmas isn’t guaranteed to be joyful. But maybe that’s the point. As we get older, joy becomes less circumstantial and more of a choice we have to make despite the circumstances.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, says it best in the first chapter of his letter to the church: “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” (James 1:2-3 NLT). We’re called to consider even the most un-ideal events joyful—a chance to develop our character and grow in our faith. What a relief to know that joy can be experienced even when our situation is not ideal!

Maybe there’s someone in your own life who forced you to come face-to-face with the reality of the world much too soon, like Scrooge’s father did for him. Maybe it wasn’t a person but a circumstance you had no say over. Whatever happened, or will happen, in your life, we all have that same freedom Scrooge did: we can choose to preserve our wonder, or we can succumb to the disillusionment the world has to offer. Which will it be for you?

Question: What circumstances are you facing today that aren’t “ideal?” How can you arrest your cynicism and look instead to how your character, faith, and knowledge of God can grow you through this situation? Where might you find joy after all?

Jump into the world of Scrooge: A Christmas Carolby listening to the companion podcast from Hope Nation here!