If you still believe in Santa Claus, please avert your eyes from the screen right now.

I’ll wait.

For the rest of you, how old were you when you realized that there wasn’t really a Santa Claus?

Five or six? Nine or ten? Thirty?

For me, the realization came on bit by bit over the years when I was little.

First off, on the gift tags on my Christmas presents, I noticed that the “To Lori, Love Santa” inscription was written in handwriting that looked an awful lot like my Mom’s. In fact, exactly like hers. I realized that it was, in fact, my Mom’s handwriting, not Santa’s.

That was my first inkling that something was up with this whole Santa thing.

Later on, I saw a notice in the newspaper that Santa would be visiting the Eaton Centre, a major mall in downtown Toronto. I was so excited! I could get my picture taken with the real Santa!

But then I saw another ad touting Santa’s visit to another mall on the same day. At the exact same time. How could Santa be in two places at once? That seemed a bit fishy to me. It slowly dawned on me that it wasn’t really Santa, but merely regular people in Santa costumes.

As an older but wiser young person, I came to discover that a lot of people I’d thought were real were in fact fictitious. Not just Santa and the Tooth Fairy, but others as well. There isn’t even a real Betty Crocker—she’s merely a creation of advertisers.

It’s always disillusioning when you discover that something you once believed in isn’t true after all.

But how comforting it is to know that there really was a Jesus Christ.

The evidence for His existence is incontrovertible. If you need convincing that Jesus walked this earth, died and was resurrected, please consider reading Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus.”

Strobel, a former atheist and journalist with the Chicago Tribune, has recently updated this bestselling book. In it, he lays out the case not just for Christ’s historical existence as a man, but for His divinity.

I also recommend Strobels’ companion book, “The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger.” This book examines the evidence showing that Jesus really was the Messiah, God in the flesh. It reminds us of the true reason for the Christmas season, which can often get obscured with our focus on Santa, decorations and gifts.

The exciting news that these books present is not just that Jesus was alive thousands of years ago, but that He’s still alive today.

Christ’s gift of forgiveness for your sins is available to you right now. He paid the penalty for your sins on the Cross, and His resurrection from the dead proved that He has power over sin and the grave.

He promised that anyone who believed in Him could have eternal life.

That beats any gift under your Christmas tree this year!

I invite you to believe in Jesus, the child in the manger who became the Saviour of the world.

Unlike Santa, God can be in more than two places at the same time. That means He’s always there for you when you need Him. And His “handwriting” in the changed lives of countless millions over the millennia can’t be mistaken for anyone else’s.

Jesus is who He says He is, and you can count on Him.

So we can say with authority:

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Jesus Christ!

© 2020 Lori J. Cartmell. All rights reserved.