By REV. JAMES SCARBOROUGH

Donalsonville Assembly of God

Upon recently purchasing a new computer, I have once again come face-to-face with the reality of dealing with technical support to get assistance with my computer questions. If you have called one of those support numbers, you understand well the process. The privilege of calling a telephone number and having a real person answer your call immediately after the first ring is virtually an extinct service. Instead, the call is received by an automated voice that gets started with a series of commands: press one for English, listen to the following options and select the one that you need, and on it goes. For me, it can become a frustrating encounter.

As I have tried to get assistance from my Internet provider in recent days, I have become very familiar with their routine of picking the options that best fit my problem. On a couple of occasions, after finally working through all the layers to speak to a real person, I have been advised to call another number, which meant I had to go through the complete process all over again in order to select another department. Thankfully, after taking the time to go through the hurdles of technology, the assistants that I reached were knowledgeable, courteous and helpful (and patient with one who knows just enough about computers to be dangerous!).

I understand that I am not the only person that those technical support people have to assist and it would certainly be impractical for any company to assign a private technician for every client, yet the thought of having direct access to someone with all the right answers is an attractive one.

One of the wonderful privileges of family relationships is that of being able to go directly to each other for time and attention. No routine of selecting various options is needed. We have direct access to each other. When one of our children or grandchildren has a need, she does not have to work through a lengthy list of other people to get to Gale and me. All she has to do is call for our attention and we will address her need as best as we can and as quickly as we can.

Personal relationships are of great value and we should do our part to keep them healthy and uninterrupted. As we rejoice during this Christmas season because of the birth of Jesus Christ, one aspect of His coming to earth that we should be especially thankful for is the personal relationship with God that He has made available to us. Through faith in Christ, we have direct access to God. As Christ likened His relationship with His followers to that of a shepherd with his sheep, He said, “I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know me-just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father-and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15, New International Version).

We do not have to go through a complicated procedure to bring our needs to God, but because of Christ’s provision for us, we can approach God with confidence and boldness at anytime from anywhere. In our Christmas celebrations, let us be thankful for the direct access that we have to God through Christ as members of His spiritual family.