“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:3 [CSB]

Anyone who truly knows me knows I’m a kid at heart. I feel the twinkle of lights in my eyes at Christmas at all the decorations. I feel the joy of the children’s laughter and high spirits. I love seeing the Santa’s (and have quite the collection). I would gladly play with the toys if they would let me. Have you seen the Barbie house? Oh, how I would love to play with one! When I was a child, I made my Barbie house out of a layering of books and imagination. And, oh, the Christmas movies! (I don’t do Hallmark.) And one of my favorites is The Polar Express.

If you’ve never seen it, let me give you an overview. A magic train called The Polar Express shows up at a little boy’s home who is questioning the existence of Santa. This train takes him and several other children to the North Pole after some dangerous hazards. Once they arrive, they see elves, of course; and all but the one boy hears the bells of Santa’s sleigh. Then something miraculous happens. One of the sleigh bells come loose and lands at his feet. When he shakes the bell, he still cannot hear it. He closes his eyes, says ‘I believe’ and shakes the bell again and hears its sweet sound.

You might wonder what scripture has to do with a movie about believing in Santa. You see, you can look for God everywhere. But if you do not believe, how can you see? You may try to be still to hear His voice, but, again, if you do not believe, you will not hear.

“This is the message of faith that we proclaim: If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” – Romans 10:9 [CSB]

You see, you can’t hear God nor see the proclamation daily of His glory until you believe. Until you say ‘I believe’, you cannot hear the sweet sound of His voice in your soul guiding you, comforting you or hearing the beauty of His bells ringing in your heart. 

All you have to do is believe.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 [CSB]