Parents have been using the lines from this song ever since to help make their children behave. “You better be good. You better go to bed. You don’t want to be on Santa’s “naughty list. You won’t get any presents…” So, every American child born since 1934 has been taught about this so-called “Naughty or Nice List.”

And that might sound innocent enough until we realize that many of those same children have grown up to believe that God is keeping such a list, and that the way to please God and receive the gift of eternal life in heaven, is to be good enough to be on His “Nice List” and work hard to stay off of His “Naughty List.”

In the Gospel of John, Jesus told a Pharisee named Nicodemus that the only way to receive God’s greatest gift of salvation is through believing in His Son. We can receive God’s greatest gift.