Security Blanket

                Every year after Thanksgiving, one of my all time favorite Christmas movies is aired.  A Charlie Brown Christmas is officially the start of the Christmas season.  The best part of the movie is when Charlie Brown asks what is the point of Christmas.  Had this been humans and not cartoon characters, the response Linus gave Charlie would have drown some funny looks from Charlie.  But being a cartoon, the animators were able to turn the response into one of the best scenes in a Christmas movie. 

              

  Linus starts out by making a major production of just getting to his answer.  He walks to the center of the stage and has the lights adjusted to fit the magnitude of his upcoming speech.  He then quotes Luke 2:8-14 just like a seasoned preacher that had been preaching all his life.  When he finishes with the scripture, he turned and walked to Charlie Brown and casually said that is the point of Christmas.  There again in real life, Charlie would still have a confused look and would question the sanity of Linus for making such a grandiose speech.  Luckily for everyone watching, it is a cartoon and it can have a deeper meaning than we will ever see in real life.

                One of the deepest parts of the movie is often overlooked.  As Linus quotes verse 10, he suddenly drops his security blanket.  Now if you don’t understand the significance of this act then you should research the peanuts gang a little further before reading any further.  But what about verse 10 would cause such a response from Linus?  It reads, “10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.””  This verse has one of the 365 times that the Bible says “don’t be afraid.”  Linus knew that he did not need his blanket when he put his trust in God.  His blanket was just getting in the way of him fully trusting God.

                Now since Charlie Brown and Linus are just cartoon characters, the questions that need to be asked are real life questions.  Do you carry a security blanket?  Do you believe God when He says “do not be afraid”?  Are you allowing your security blanket to get in the way of fully trusting God?  These questions are very personal questions that you must ask yourself if you want to truly grow with God.

                These are also the questions I asked myself when I started writing my blog.  My answers took a little time to digest before I could move further with what the Holy Spirit was giving me to accomplish.  I never realized that I needed a security blanket until I published my first post.  In my writings, my blanket was feedback from whoever read my ramblings.  I had to have a response from someone to feel like I was doing God’s work.  I came to realize that my security came in the form of another author that I am blessed to call a friend.  As soon as I posted something, I would wait for his affirmation before I felt like it was worthy of being read by anyone.  I give God all the glory now because I still wait for his responses but I don’t need them to know that God has a plan for what was written.  As for the second question, I truly believe that I am not too be afraid but I am still human and fear will always creep into my thoughts.  The greatest thing about knowing God is that I know that He also knows my fears and will comfort me during those times.  And since I know that I have a security blanket and I’m not afraid of what others think about my posts, the third question is very simple.  My security blanket doesn’t get in the way of me trusting God.  He helps me realize that God has a bigger plan and we need to be willing to do whatever the Holy Spirit lays on our heart.

                Now is the time you need to ask yourself the same three questions.  It doesn’t matter what area you are serving God.  You have to know what is holding you back from truly serving God.  You may not like the answers that are revealed to you when you dig deep but you need to know the answers.  Are you prepared to lay your security blanket down when God reveals it to you? 

                Lord I pray tonight for anyone that holds tight to anything other than you for security.  You are our only hope of letting go of the things that make us comfortable in this world.  Your word is very clear that we are not to be afraid but You also know that it is hard for us not to allow fear in.  Lord I pray that we can follow the lead of Linus and lay our security blankets down.  In your name I pray, amen.