Gifts.

I had a question posed the other day; what is my take on giving gifts, how does it reflect the spirit of the Christmas story, what should we do as followers of Jesus with this? Here's my take...

I used to get uncomfortable sometimes with gifts. I remember at Christmas thinking that my parents went crazy and spent way too much on me! (I know, hard to believe, eh mom?) One year in particular I recieved some very nice gifts and thought, "This is too much!". My lovely wife pointed out that giving gifts is a way to express love, and that I've got to learn to let people do that. And that is true! Now as a parent, I want to get my kids something nice and fun as a way to express how I feel about them. Not that they need a toy or something for them to know they are loved, but to do something out of the ordinary to bring them joy.

So, Christmas gifts! As I think about what Christmas is about, the giving of gifts makes a lot of sense! We were given a pretty amazing gift a whole bunch of years ago. A gift we didn't deserve. A gift that we have the choice to open or not. And in all honesty, a pretty rockin' gift! So to offer something to another on the grounds of kindness and love rather than merit, well, that seems to reflect in a small way the dealings God had with us on that day so long ago. And ya know, it's not about bigger/better/more...my hope is that it's about loving and bringing joy.

What is the best gift you've ever gotten (and I mean like birthday/Christmas/Honey, I love you gift). Best given? What made them that way? Ask your kids -- what is thier favorite gift they've been given? What do they think about when we talk about the gift of Jesus?

Read and ponder...Hebrews 10:11-25