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A Christmas Thought "…It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35 Last night as our family returned home from the city where we had spent the day Christmas shopping, Becky and I talked about past Christmases. I don’t seem to enjoy Christmas as much as I used to and we were discussing reasons for that. As we reminisced about the past it dawned on me that the anticipation of what I was going to get for Christmas was what made the holiday so exciting. In the weeks before Christmas I would pore over the Sears and Roebuck catalog looking at all the toys, especially the train sets. Excitement built as I mulled the question, What am I going to get this year? I remember making out wish lists and anticipating the joy of discovery on Christmas morning. It was also a thrill for me to purchase gifts for family members and loved ones; what a joy to select something I thought each person would like. As they opened their gifts and my mom told how I had shopped for the gifts all by myself and paid for them with my own money, I would beam with pride. Looking back on those moments through adult eyes, I can see the gifts I had selected were often cheap and juvenile, but the joy of giving them is still remembered! So often at Christmastime we hear sermon after sermon on how it is more blessed to give than to receive. We find it in church, on the radio, on television, in magazine articles and sometimes encapsulated in Christmas cards. I often feel beat up and guilty about not being generous enough, getting caught up in the festivities, and "forgetting" the true meaning of Christmas. However, as Becky and I talked about past Christmases I realized that I have tried so hard to make Christmas holy that I have allowed God’s greatest joy to be stolen; I have created exactly what I do not want Christmas to be. I have spent more time focused on me and my response to Christmas than on Him. God sent Jesus to FREE us from guilt, but Christmas has become an opportunity to heap more guilt on. In last week’s article Whatever Blesses You, Lord I talked about a willingness to receive whatever blesses God. God tells us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. It blesses Him to give! Yet we can get so focused on making sure WE give that we lose the joy of receiving and steal God’s greatest blessing and joy. God gave His GREATEST gift to us at Christmas – His Son Jesus. Can you picture Him eagerly anticipating the look on our faces as we discover and receive the best He has? It is with great anticipation and excitement that we can look forward to receiving His gifts, for Jesus continues to give. As in childhood, we are free to wonder what He has in mind for us. The Messiah had been anticipated for centuries; anticipation is a gift in itself! Likewise, it is okay to be childlike and contemplate what earthly gifts we may receive. Refuse to steal joy from each other and from yourself by squelching the pleasure of receiving. Give as children; receive as children. Remember that the greatest point of joy is not using the item we receive, or playing with it, or living with it; it's discovering it. THAT is the golden moment. God wants us to ENJOY this celebration. Continue to receive and embrace the best God has to give, and enjoy the rest. Verses for Reflection: "My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him." Psalm 62:5 "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." Luke 18:16 "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:11 "John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven." John 3:27 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James. 1:17 Article # - LCMI – 2003-175: 12/23/2003 |
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