By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

One thing the Christmas holiday season reminds us about is that God sent His Son as a tiny baby to this earth.  This Christ child grew and became a man – fully man and fully God at the same time.  He died a cruel death on a rugged cross and gave His life’s blood for you and me.

But then what?  He didn’t stay dead.  Did you know that we Christians are the only ones who can truthfully say we serve a living God?!  All other religions – ALL of them – serve gods that are dead and in a grave somewhere.  But not us!

In the Rose Hill Cemetery in Meridian, Mississippi, are the graves of Emil and Kelly Mitchell and some of their family members.  Emil and Kelly were, respectively, the King and Queen of the Gypsies.  Their graves are marked as such.  They had a great following.  They were locally famous, and memories of their connections remain on both sides of the state line in our area.

It is said that many thousands of gypsies from around the world came to their funerals.  Great productions they were, great shows they presented, and, for some, great memories are left.  But those folks – the King and Queen – are long gone from this world.  Out of curiosity, I have visited their graves, and I’ve seen the coins and trinkets that are left behind by others.  But there is nothing any more special about those graves than about any others.

I’m so very thankful that I can say I serve a risen Savior Who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He once had a grave, but up from that grave He arose on the third day!  And He lives forevermore!  He has no grave to visit.  There is no broken tombstone.  There is no place for trinkets and memorials to be placed.

But at the feet of my King Jesus, I can place all that I am and all that I have – not as a memorial to a dead king, but as an offering to THE Risen King!

As the holidays come and go and another year looms on the horizon, ask yourself this question – What King do I serve?  And what King to I pledge to serve in the coming year?

Just a thought.