Christmas Thoughts

 

"Let's turn to Matthew chapter 1," I told my children.

"But I want to open presents!"  Victoria wailed.

I suppose I am one of those cruel Dads who thinks it is his duty to instill in his children the reason for the Christmas season, but it does seem important.  Victoria was the only one who expressed her frustration with my diabolical plan.  Elise was too young to realize that it even was Christmas Day and the other children were old enough to hide their impatience.

As my children read through the story of Jesus' conception and the visit of the wise men, I thought of the different miracles in the story.  The virgin birth, the star, and the mixture of faith and unbelief demonstrated by the various actors within this account.

"So, what is today?"  I asked my children, when they finished reading.

"It's Jesus' birthday,"  Elliot said.

"No, Elliot," Vince said firmly.  "It is the day we celebrate Jesus' birthday.  We actually don't know what day Jesus was born."

"So, how should we celebrate Jesus' birth?"  I asked.  "Do you think it would be good to have a birthday cake and sing Him "Happy Birthday?"

Elliot nodded.  He likes cake of all kinds, particularly birthday cakes.

"There were two groups of gifts given in this story," I continued.  "There were the gifts the wise men brought and then God gave us the best gift of all -- His Son.  So, what can we give Him in return?"

"We should give him our hearts," Anna said.

"That's right," I said.  "But I think there is something more.  How did Jesus tell us we could do things for Him?"

My children were silent.  This was too much of a "Guess what Dad is thinking" sort of question.  I am good at asking those and typically I am the only one who seems to come up with the answer that I am looking for.

"Jesus said that as we do things to the least of these, we do it to Him.  So, as we see people in need around us and do things for them, we are giving Him gifts."

I continued to ponder on this concept.  The goal I have when I give a gift to someone is not to give them something I want, but something they want.  The same should be true when I approach my Savior.  Often the hardest part is figuring out what that person actually wants, but Jesus was clear about that subject.

Jesus did not say He wanted big celebrations with lights and trees and positive postings on Facebook -- there's nothing wrong with those things, He just didn't ask for them.  He said simply that He wished for His followers to love the world the way He did.  He wanted His people to give until it hurt and then to keep giving until it stopped hurting.  He wanted them to continue the ministry He began so many years ago.

For Him, that would be the greatest gift of all.