Recently, I was asked if I had a favorite Christmas. Thanksgiving and Christmas are two holidays that bring families together.

One childhood memory comes to mind. In the 1940’s we moved to Seattle from Iowa; my parents both had jobs there, hoping to help win the war. The whole world had to endure this struggle. My parents were in their forties, beyond the normal age for the Draft. People today don’t realize how close we came to losing that conflict.

We lived only a few miles from Fort Lewis and many Iowans had no place to have a home cooked meal. My parents often invited those folks to come over. On Christmas, the soldiers would bring presents for my siblings. One gift I remember was a complete set of cardboard-war machinery – tanks, ships, Jeeps, a rocket launcher and other items. The most-used piece was the launcher; when you loaded your rockets, the plunger could be tripped and vehicles would be “blown up.” I played with that gift until it fell apart. I thought I was helping the soldiers win their war.

America was not aware of the Japanese military bearing down on Pearl Harbor. We did not take God to heart; we did not have “watchmen” looking for trouble that always comes. The enemy comes in our world because good and evil cannot coexist. Evil will always try to destroy good. It will sneak around until boom, it strikes at one of your weak places. In 1941 it was Pearl Harbor. The prophet Ezekiel was given the task of watching for the enemies of Israel. All the major and minor prophets warned us about “watching” for Satan. According to scripture, a spiritual war goes on every day. We constantly struggle against powers and principalities, which are the unholy gifts of Satan. We have to spiritually struggle against the devil. God realizes that humans do not have righteous strength for a flesh/spiritual struggle, but Jesus, the Messiah does. Our churches today should be on the look-out for “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” Satan works that way, hoping that we good folks won’t see him sneaking into the churchyard, or our lives. In 1945 God gave us the second best Christmas ever – world peace.

Keep your watchtower experience alive by believing and watching with Jesus.