Santa has sent us an elf, an “Elf on the Shelf”. The elf comes in a box along with a book to describe this tradition. Your elf sits up high and watches to see if you’re being naughty or nice, then during the night he flies to the North Pole to tell Santa how you were that day. When he returns, he finds a new place to sit, and this continues until Christmas. Finally on Christmas night he flies home with Santa until he’ll reappear next holiday season. Part of the magic is that you get to name your elf. You name him, write it in the back of your book and the magic begins. You may not touch your elf though or the magic disappears. This is a cute tradition that is basically an easy way to tell your children “Santa’s elf is watching you!”.
I had never heard of such a things until we got one in the mail. We opened our package, read the book, and named our elf. Peyton named our elf “Tapey” but they were less than impressed that they couldn’t touch him. We sat the elf, in his box, up on the shelf, and when the children woke the next morning the elf had came out of his box and was sitting on a nearby shelf, the fun began! Now they were excited and believed that this elf was really from Santa! It has been fun finding new places to sit the elf and watching the kids look for him and laugh when they finally find him. The best part about the elf is how well behaved the kids have become! They are normally good kids, just have the typical sibling fights and normal 2 and 4 year old fits, but since “Tapey” arrived they’ve been on their best behavior! It’s too bad he has to go home with Santa because I’d really like to have him around more often!
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The holidays come around and “Santa’s watching you” becomes a regular phrase in any home with children. Such a simple thing many of us have grown up with. Kids have a tendency to try their best to be good when they think Santa is watching them. Which brings me to the question, is this how you’re living out your life?
How is your behavior when you think no one is watching? How do you handle difficult, stressful, upsetting situations when alone compared to when someone is around? Are you consistent in your good behavior? The truth is our Father is always watching us. He sees what we do behind closed doors, He never takes time off, or walks away for a moment, He is always with us.
Think about this: You’re at home when something makes you angry (children, spouse, bad news, etc.) and you find yourself in a tantrum (too often we associate this word with kids but, yes, even adults have these!). You’re yelling, screaming, throwing things, think of the last time you’ve acted out like this, we all have at some point, and put yourself in that moment. During this time, what would happen if your pastor knocked on your door? I can guarantee you would straighten up real quick! How often does the rush of getting ready for church get you in a bad mood? Is the family who walks in the front door of the church the same family that just got out of the car?! There are many more examples, but my point here is that when we act like this we are acting to please people. God does not reward “good behavior” done when the behavior is to look good in front of someone else.
We need to be on our best behavior at all times because we want to be God-pleasers. We should be consistently making choices to rise above the negative things and be a better person to please our Father. Don’t make excuses for it, you aren’t “just an angry/emotional person”, you’re life isn’t just too hard….there’s no way around it. In every situation when you feel that anger rising up inside of you, at that moment, you have a choice: give in to it and feel it or rise above it and leave it powerless. I know sometimes the problems seem too overwhelming, or you may be so used to getting angry you aren’t sure how to act otherwise but God is there for you. He’s waiting for you to reach to Him for help and He is faithful. If you know of nothing else to do in that moment you find yourself having to make a choice, PRAY! Pray until the emotion subsides and don’t stop until it does.
Let’s all take a step of faith to be on our best behavior at all times. God watches us at all times and He’s there for you at all times. Let’s go back to how we were as children who thought Santa could see us everywhere! If we do this with honest hearts God will reward us with His blessings and gifts, just as Santa did!
“And as for you, brethren, do not become weary or lose heart in doing right [but continue in well-doing without weakening].” 2 Thessalonians 3:18
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