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Thankfully this is the Christmas season and there is some decent stuff out there to watch. For example I have always been a fan of the animated version of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. We have little evidence that Rudolph existed but his story has many lessons for all of us to learn.

Actually there are so many lessons I had a little trouble deciding which one to go with. After much consideration I have decided to speak about those toys that landed on Misfit Island. We shall call them from now on, misfit toys.

Now if you have not watched the show, Rudolph runs away and after traveling some distance with some interesting characters he ends up on Misfit Island. What might you say is Misfit Island? Well of course it is where all the misfit toys go. Here is there place of refuge.

What might you ask is a misfit toy? Goodness haven’t you watched television for the last forty years! It is a toy that is not quite normal. For example there is a Jack in the Box that’s name is Charlie. Thus he is a Charlie in the Box and that makes him a misfit. As I think of it I can see all kinds of little mistakes on these toys, for example there is an elephant that keeps walking around with spots, she too is a misfit toy.

Somehow they have all landed on Misfit Island and are there waiting for Santa Claus to come and pick them up. Each year goes by and each year they are disappointed because Santa never comes by. These toys have high hopes but they know who they are; misfits.

These toys are very unhappy because they believe they will never be used. They believe they will never be played with by any children, there intended purpose. Someone somewhere made a mistake in their construction thus creating a misfit toy that is useless to the normal world. At least that is what they think.

In reality we live in a world of misfit people do we not? Broken bodies, broken lives, misplaced priorities that lead us to regret, foolish decisions, shame, disappointment, sin, all these things lead us to declare ourselves misfits. From there we spend out lives in isolation away from all of those normal people we see who have it all together. We are useless to the world at least that is what we think.

I have good news for all of you folks worried about these misfit toys. Rudolph goes back to the North Pole and tells Santa about them and sure enough on Christmas Eve here comes Santa to pick them up and take them to little boys and girls. I am telling you these misfit toys are very excited when Santa shows up. What a happy ending to that story.

For those of us misfit people I have equally good news. Believe me when I say this get off of that island because there are no normal folks out there we are all misfits. God made us all in His image, we are all important to him. Please do not isolate yourself thinking because you are not like the rest of the world you are of no use to God. I do not understand all of Gods ways, but I know this He is a great lover of the misfit.

Here are some examples:

Misfit Moses---stuttered and couldn’t speak in public.

Misfit Paul---had some thorn in the flesh, not to mention a history for persecuting the church.

Misfit Jacob—had a problem not being a trickster.

And what about all of those misfits Jesus used to show the power and glory of God? The blind, the sick, the lame, the deaf, sinners, leapers and even the dead misfits to the world but to God of great use.

Let me give you the final bit of good news. Just like those misfits toys who were rescued on Christmas Eve, you received a welcomed visitor on Christmas day. In the town of Bethlehem a Savior was born for you, His name was Jesus. Instead of coming on a sleigh with reindeers, He was born in a stable with sheep and cattle.

Because He came we are no longer misfits. His desire is to not only save us from our sins but to use us for his intended purpose.

When a misfit comes to Jesus, there is some celebrating going on that only fellow misfits can appreciate. This season get off the island, come to Christ and allow Him to use your ‘misfitness’ the way he had planned all along.