My heart is heavy this morning. It’s heavy for the Lost Boys. Not the Peter Pan troupe, but the boys and girls in homes who don’t have fathers. For the kids who don’t know or ever will know their father. For the children whose fathers are in jail not just at Christmas but the majority of their lives. For the kids who know their dad in name, along the thirteen other offspring. 

These children have names and faces to me. They are black and white and all different colors. 

They are more important than GQ, Phil Robertson or homosexuality.They are more important than presents under a tree because they are important to Him – the baby in the manger who is also the Father to the fatherless.

This is the hope I have – that each of these children are known by the God of the universe. As I lift of each of them to Him this morning, He sees and knows them intimately, knowing their deepest needs. I know He hears and answers those prayers in His time. 

But my prayer is not just for each of these children, but for those of us who know the power and person of Christmas. That we won’t be lukewarm, but we’ll get out of our homes and churches and do the work God has called us to do. Pray. Get involved. Roll up our sleeves. Don’t be afraid. Don’t stereotype. Don’t get blinded by our comfort or hear the lies of the enemy about unimportant things.

Our calling is not to defend our speech (Mark 13:11) but to share the hope we have in this crazy, messed up world. 

If He is King to you, you have the greatest gift to give. My prayer this morning is not just for the kids I weep for, but for each of us to reach out, lift up and not be afraid to share the hope, grace and life of the greatest Christmas gift of all – Jesus Christ.

How can you move out of your comfort zone in 2014 and be a new, fresh presence of God to the hurting around you?