Prayer: Mighty God, You have done wonderful things for me and I am grateful. I can say the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. I praise and worship You, Mighty God. Amen

Scripture: I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing. Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup…You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” Ps. 16:2, 5,6 NIV

One of my most favorite movies is It’s a Wonderful Life. I usually kick off the Christmas season by watching it on the Friday after Thanksgiving and then a few more times leading up to Christmas. Even though I have most of the lines memorized, I still love the sentiment and message of this old movie.

It’s a Wonderful Life is about a man, George Bailey, played by the legendary Jimmy Stewart, who winds up in a mess of a life – or so he thinks. He wants to travel and see the world but after the death of his father he ends up taking over his father’s hometown Building and Loan which has always helped the underdog to buy a home or start a business. George agrees to stay when the Building and Loan is threatened to be taken over by the town’s greedy miser. George’s uncle misplaces a significant deposit and causes legal chaos for George which leads to the sudden decision that the world would be better off without him. As he goes to jump off a bridge, an “angel in training” is sent to teach him what a wonderful life he has had and what the world would be like if he had never been born. The “angel” shows George all of the lives he has touched, and even saved, throughout his life. He learns the blessing of friendship, love, and how sacrificing for others always comes back to bless you – he truly has had a wonderful life.

What about you? Do you ever get caught up in your daily routine and think, “There’s got to be something more?” Have you ever been in such despair that you actually thought the world would be better off without you? Are there days when you feel like no one is listening to you, that nothing you do really matters? Friends, I am here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth!

Every human being has the desire to make a difference in at least one person’s life over their lifetime. We all hope to impact a life for the better, to change a bad choice or path, to enable a dream or experience, to teach a life-lesson or be an example that is followed for a lifetime. Most of all, we hope to live out our faith in a way that leads another lost soul from eternal torment to eternal relationship with God in heaven. As an educator you have that opportunity EVERY day. You touch and improve hundreds of lives. You have made impacts and caused changes that you may never even know about this side of heaven, but you are a life-changer!

Many of you have been teaching for a long time. Stop and think about past students and situations where you know you made a difference. Think about the students who come back to see you after they have moved up a grade or even to another school. They come back so you can see the difference in them. They want you to see your fingerprints on their matured lives. Ironically, these same students are the ones we are most challenged with in some years. As we draw closer to the time of year when we celebrate the One Who is called Wonderful, the One who came to change our path, not just for today or this world, but for all eternity, think about the gifts you have already been given.

My prayer for you is that you would know that you have a wonderful life!

Copyright Kathy Branzell. To connect with the author, email info@christianeducators.org

For other inquiries about the Daily Devotionals or to submit original content for publication, please contact devotionals@christianeducators.org