There is a bit of theology behind the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge...
One could muse that the three ghosts visiting him were really angelic beings with prophetic messages from God appearing to him in a prophetic dream from God. The dream takes him on a spiritual journey through his entire life. He is reminded of all the high points and low points of his life in the dream. Every event that formed the character of the man he had become.
The ghost of Christmas past reminded him of where he was in life.
The ghost of Christmas present explained to him what he had become.
And the ghost of Christmas future warned him of what he would become.
Of course, Charles Dickens, the author of the novel A Christmas Carol, writes in such a way that the ghosts appearing to Scrooge appear in a prophetic dream sent from God. It was not what one might call a “pizza dream” where you dream something crazy because of what you ate the night before....
I could even go out on a limb further and speculate that the second ghost, the ghost of Christmas present was a vision of God himself as viewed through human eyes with poor spiritual vision. Mankind has put God in a box. Remember, for example, the super bowl commercial with God and the bottle of tobasco sauce? This is mankind's general view of God. That God does not care, that things are happenstance or accidents. Not true.
“Are there no poorhouses? Are there no prisons?” Scrooge heard himself saying.
Of children he said something about a much needed
“...decrease in the surplus population.”
“...decrease in the surplus population.”
Has mankind not said the same thing as Scrooge? With gendercide or selective births? With genocide? Are the prisons not overcrowded because of dysfuntion? And the poorhouses overwhelmed? At the time of the birth of Jesus there was a genocide. Did you know that King Herod tried to have Jesus killed? He ordered the murder of all babies under the age of 2. But the Lord sent an angel to Joseph (Jesus's step-father) in a warning dream and Joseph knew how to protect his family from Herod, (Matthew 2).
You see, some dreams are warnings of things to come and God speaks to you giving you the strength and wisdom to know how to avoid those dangers. I think this is what Dickens was trying to say in his novel.
The night before Christmas was one long cold and eventful night for Scrooge! You know those dreams that are so intense that you toss and turn and you wake up in a cold sweat with the blankets and sheets tightly wrapped around you? It was that kind of a dream. The kind where you wake up with a jump. Scrooge woke up with a jump and tons of adrenaline after that dream!
God speaks to us through our dreams. You just have to be willing to ask God the question: “What were you trying to show me through this dream, Lord God?” A lot of times our dreams hold lots of symbolism that we have to sort through prayerfully.
Scrooge did not need to analyze the symbolism in is dreams for too long. The message came through loudly and clearly: he needed to make some changes in his life or else he would die miserable, which he was, and alone which he was. And no one would bother to come to his funeral because he was so filled with greed and a love for money. His love for money overtook him so much that he was neglecting his own well-being and the needs of his employee.
What dreams have you given up? Have you stepped on people to get to the top? Has the love of money or something earthly and unimportant taken over your heart to the point that it consumes you? Have you lost your compassion for those lest fortunate than you? Has depression overtaken your life?
The only thing eternal about you is your soul. Will you go to heaven if you died today?
There are a lot of wealthy people in the world who give money to the poor because they realize that it makes them feel better about themselves. But how much better it is to give because your heart has been changed, touched by God!
I urge you to receive the gift that God has sent to all of mankind. This gift has changed the world. This gift has the power to make all things work together for good, (Romans 8:28).
The gift was Jesus the Son of God who came to earth as a baby and was fully human and fully divine. He had no sin in him or on him. He came to save those of us who were lost and to bring us to salvation so that we might come to know the love of God for all of mankind.
What can we take away from the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge? Learn to love people the way God loves people. But first, you have to experience that love personally by asking Him to come into your heart.
Where would you go if you died today? What legacy would you leave behind?
Prayer
Dear God, help us to be kingdom minded. Teach us how to live everyday as if it were our last day before meeting you in eternity. Teach us to pray, order our steps in your holy WORD. Fill us with your compassion, Lord. Help us to submit to you praying "thy kingdom come, thy will be done" now and forever more. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Read
Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2
Song in My Head
'I'm waiting. I'm waiting on you Lord, and I am hopeful. I'm waiting on you Lord...' -While I'm Waiting, John Waller
