G Is For Gifts

Today we light the Candle of Peace, or The Bethlehem Candle

Today’s Scripture is Matthew 2:11

After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

and John 4:10

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

Everybody is thinking about gifts at Christmas time. Whether you will get some, what you will give, gifts for gardeners, gifts for children….gift giving is everywhere during the holiday season. And before the holiday season, if any vendor feels they can get away with rushing the season.

It makes some people upset.

They don’t think that is what Christmas is about, but it is what Christmas is all about. Just not in the commercialized, material, and selfish way it is wrapped up to be.

Very close in association with all this frantic shopping and gift giving is the idea of joy, cheer, and happiness. God is focused on the joy, the world is focused on the cheer, and the people trying to get just the right gifts and figure out how to manipulate others into giving them what they most desire… well, that is those of us who are focused on our ideas of happiness.

We think getting what we want will give us happiness, and the world around us wants us to make sure there is a lot of cheer, baking, shopping, partying, decorating, hustling, bustling. (Cheerful people spend more and make the rest of us feel better), but why is God concerned about joy? Isn’t all that cheerfulness another name for joy?

While we are thinking about that-
What is joy?

If we realized the difference between the joy God gives us and the happiness we are seeking, we might not have such terrible disappointment of our expectations.

Where does this joy come from?

What happens to how we look at Christmas if we realize that joy is a gift? A gift that begins inside of us, and is unhindered by that which is in the world. That would be a revolutionary thing in our thinking and the celebration of Christmas, I believe. It might even start a revolution in the degree of gratefulness, contentment, and cooperation we engaged in during the rest of our lives all year long.

I believe, also, that this is what God wants for us. He wants for us to experience enduring joy and an eternal hope.

God wants us to understand what His gift is, and then to gladly receive it.

So whether we see the tradition of giving gifts as a reflection of God’s gift to us, or a reenacting of the wise men giving gifts to the Christ child, or simply an overflow of the gladness and cheer of our own hearts… Christmas is a time for all of that and more.

It is a time to open more of the gift of God’s salvation in Christ… to be more like the wise men who traveled far and gave their best gifts… to become filled with generosity and kindness, a magnanimous and gracious person to those we meet.

Be of good cheer, for we have heard and now know the good tidings. The riches of the Kingdom of Heaven are ours.

The song for today is “We Three Kings”.

I love the Maranatha Singers Christmas songs, and hope you enjoy this one.

Fun To Do
Color pictures of gifts, think about what kind of gifts you could give right now (helping someone, smiling and wishing someone a good day, telling someone you like them, whatever good kind thing comes into your mind).

Here is a gift coloring picture you can print out and color.

Today, think about something to give to someone else, instead of what you want someone to give to you.