Gifts

Christmas is a time of year when people give gifts.  I remember as a boy going shopping to buy my parents something for Christmas.

It was hard, because I usually only had five or six dollars to spend for everyone on my list.  Often I ended up getting tiny candles, or pencils with scripture quotes because it was all I could afford.

When Christmas rolled around my parents always acted very pleased with the little trinkets I gave them.  As a dad, I understand.  I don't need any of the things that my children can buy me, but the gifts demonstrate hearts full of love.

In the same way, I believe that God likes us to give Him things, not because He needs anything from us, but because it demonstrates our love for Him.

God doesn't need our stuff, but He wants our love.

Even as we give to others, we are giving to Him.  "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

It has been said that we should give until it hurts, but I believe that we should give till it stops hurting.  Only then will we demonstrate the love that is inside.

The Darkest Day of the Year

The darkest day of the year is coming up.  The shortest day.  The longest night.  Whatever you want to call it, December 21st is the winter solstice and in Paoli, Indiana, that means that we will have just nine hours and twenty-eight minutes of day light.  This isn't nearly enough and I would petition the state legislature for more, if I thought it would accomplish something.  With all of the gray days we've been dealing with it, it seems like a long time since I've seen that ball of fire in the sky we call the sun.

I know that there are many who deal with greater darkness than that which is brought on by the coming of winter.  Her, in this dreary time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, they feel loss.  A face they will not see again, a voice they long to hear this holiday season and will not.

Reading the news and even just the postings of others on Facebook, I see a darkness in the world around that cannot be penetrated by the brightest of flashlights.

It was into just such a time of darkness that Jesus was born, over two thousand years ago.  He came to a people full of want, a country ravaged by war, and oppressed by a harsh Roman government.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone." (Isaiah 9:2).

There are many types of night within this world, but I have found that into each situation Jesus brings His light.  And where He is, darkness cannot remain.

"This Child Will Change Your Life!"

"Your life just won't be the same."

I remember clearly the older lady who told me this, nine years ago, when my wife and I were expecting our first child.  I'm not sure exactly what she meant.

Perhaps she meant that we would have messy diapers and baby food in our futures.  Perhaps she knew that we could no longer sit at a table set for two, or that we would have plenty of evenings where we rubbed the sleep from our eyes to clean up the after effects of a stomach virus or, console a child dealing with bad dreams.

Perhaps she knew that I would become less selfish -- focusing on the needs of this little girl who was coming to live with us, rather than on what made me happy.

I don't know exactly what she meant, but she sure was right.

I can imagine some older lady saying the same thing to Joseph and Mary, some two thousand years ago. 

"This child will change your life!"

Probably the same things were true for baby Jesus.  He was a normal baby.  He did everything a normal baby and child would do.  His parents did the normal things parents do to take care of a growing infant and child.  He grew and they were changed in the process.

Yet, He came to earth to do more than just change His parent's lives.  He came to change the world.

This Christmas, I pray that all of you would meet Him, know Him, and love Him.

This child will change your life.

If you let Him.

Gratitude

The world is full of terrible illnesses.  Ebola, Malaria, Entero viruses, and the list goes on.  There are plenty of infections that have no test and no cure, yet still cause devastation.  Yet, my family and I are healthy.

I realize that this health does not come from vitamins, or healthy eating, or good genetics.  It does not come because we are special, or more valuable than people who are suffering in West Africa.  It is simply that we are blessed.

The world is full of poverty.  There are many who struggle to find food for their children and who make their homes in little, stolen spaces on the edge of dumps or, in wastelands.  Yet, my family and I have more than enough and my children have never known hunger.

I realize that this plenty does not come because of hard work, or intelligence, or amazing skill.  It does not come to me because I am special or work more than the many who struggle to find nourishment.  It is simply that I am blessed.

There are so many other ways in which I am blessed.  I cannot count them all.  It is awfully easy for me to fall into the mind set where I believe that I deserve the very things which are gifts from God, to believe that God has blessed me because I am special.

I have read elsewhere that Christians should not say that they are blessed when they are referring to material blessings.  But God blesses in many ways, some of them material and some intangible, but the most important thing is never to forget that all of these things are undeserved gifts.

When a gift becomes an expectation, gratitude leaves.

God has given me much and for it, I am grateful.  Perhaps the best way to show my gratitude is to share my blessings with others.