Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Greece said . . . Be wise, know yourself. Rome said . . . Be strong, discipline yourself. Judaism says . . . Be holy, conform yourself. Epicureanism says . . . Be sensuous, enjoy yourself.

AS WE MOVE TOWARD the close of this year, we must refocus our priorities. Here is an anchor passage for us as we end one year and begin another.

March 11, 1942, was a dark, desperate day at Corregidor. The Pacific theater of war was threatening and bleak. One island after another had been buffeted into submission. The enemy was now marching into the Philippines.

My first rude awakening to the reality of hunger occurred early in 1958 when our troop ship full of U.S. Marines pulled into the harbor of Yokohama, Japan. We were so thrilled to see land, having been at sea for seventeen days.

Nothing damages our dignity like stumbling! I have seen people, dressed to the hilt, stumble and fall flat on their faces as they were walking to church. I have witnessed serious and gifted soloists . . . stumble and fall.

"There lies the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen . . . [and] now he belongs to the ages." Of whom was this said? One of the Caesars? No. Napoleon? No. Alexander the Great? No. Eisenhower? Patton?

EVER WONDERED WHAT happened shortly after Jesus was born? That's an interesting question. We all feel that sense of uncertainty and even confusion after the crowds leave.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Lost in the wonder of it all, I believe a little child upon my knee would whisper simple words of advice up close to my ear.

IN 1818, a roving band of actors was performing in towns throughout the Austrian Alps. Their performance on a starry December night in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, impacted local pastor Joseph Mohr as the words of the Christ story remained in his heart.

YOU'VE SEEN IT. SO HAVE I. The phrase is on bumper stickers, it appears on coffee mugs, it often finds its way onto greeting cards, billboards, and church signs. It has become almost synonymous with Christ.

THE WONDER OF AMAZON just continues to spread. Tens of thousands of employees and hundreds of thousands of square feet of operations all work with amazing precision to coordinate the receiving, packaging, and shipping of millions of products all around the world.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD can I give to ______ this Christmas?" Sound familiar? Sure, it's probably the most frequently asked question every Yuletide season.

CHRISTMAS DAY NEVER arrived so slowly, but finally it dawned. While no one was looking, I had shaken the box enough to know that it had to contain what I had been wanting so badly—right size, right weight, everything.

THE CHRISTMAS STORY HAS been so sanitized and romanticized over the centuries that even Hollywood—as jaded a culture as can be found anywhere—fails to capture the gritty pathos that surrounded Jesus' arrival.

A FEW DECEMBERS AGO, I saw something that I won't soon forget. The bumper sticker on the back of the car in front of me caught my eye. It made me think. And it even aroused some guilt.

IN THIS SEASON OF EXTREME BUSYNESS, we Christians need to stay alert to any potential dangers. I'll mention only four of them . . . along with some strategies that will allow us to combat each risk.

EVERY YEAR, as Christmas draws nearer, I remember a story Paul Harvey told on one of his radio broadcasts. It's a tale that never grows old.

ALTHOUGH IT MAY BE a little ahead of schedule, it's not too early to give some things away this Christmas. Not just on Christmas Day, but during the days leading up to December 25.

The whole world was on fire with the flames of Rome's rampaging expansion. What could possibly have been more important than Caesar's decrees or Rome's massive building programs?

I'VE LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO know that sometimes Christmas hurts. And when words fail, tears flow.