Last Kiss

In 1964, a one-hit wonder group, known as J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, had a major hit with the song Last Kiss. The song was based on a true story. Just two years earlier, Jeanette Clark and J.L. Hancock, both 16 years old, were out on a date just a few days before Christmas in 1962. Their car was struck by a tractor-trailer on a road in rural Barnsville, Georgia. A local gas station attendant helping with the recovery of the bodies did not even recognize his own daughter. In the song, the girl dies in her boyfriend's arms. The lyrics are as follows: Where oh where can my baby be. The Lord took her away from me. She's gone to heaven so I have to be good, so I can see my baby when I leave this world.

One of the hardest things to comprehend about Salvation is that it has nothing to do with how good we are. Salvation is a gift from God, not something we can earn. In our society, many things we do are judged based on comparisons to other people. No matter how "good" we are, we will never even come close to the Goodness of Christ. And regardless of how much "better" we are than other people, in God's eyes, we fail just as miserably as they do. When I took Calculus in college, my professor gave the class a diagnostic test the first day to ascertain our strengths and weaknesses. I called him a few hours after the test to see how well I did. He told me I did better than everybody else in the class; I got 2 problems right out of 20 while everybody else only got one right. I might have done better than they did, but I still failed just as badly as the other students in the class. We can't earn heaven no matter how well we do. As Christmas draws closer, let's truly thank God for His incredible "Christmas gift" of Jesus Christ.

Titus 3:5 says, "God our Savior saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy."

Father, thank you so much for Your precious Son Jesus. Help us to remember that He is the true meaning of Christmas. In Jesus name, Amen.