Buy Your Own Gifts!, by Alan Smith
I heard recently about a 90-year-old lady who one Christmas
found
buying presents a bit much, so she wrote out checks for all of
her
family and friends, and decided she would put them in with her
Christmas cards. She wrote out her Christmas cards and put "Buy
your
own present" after her name, then sent them off.
But after the Christmas festivities were over, she found the
checks in
her desk! Everyone had got a Christmas card from her with "Buy
your own
present" written inside, but without the checks!
Our gift list is always so limited.
We all like gifts. We like to receive them from those that we
love. And
we also enjoy giving them. What Jesus said is certainly true:
"It is
more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). I used to
think
that the greatest joy of Christmas belonged to children because
they
get to experience the excitement of opening their presents. But
I've
learned that the real excitement of Christmas comes in being
able to
give to those who mean so much to you.
Unfortunately, our gift list is always so limited. If you're
like me at
this time of the year, you always have a lot of people you would
like
to get something special, but you just don't have the money. We
can't
give to everyone. But, God can, God has, and God does! There's
no one
who's been left off of his gift list.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn
the
world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John
3:16-17
NKJV)
This Christmas, enjoy giving gifts and enjoy receiving them. But
be
especially thankful for the greatest gift of all that came to
this
earth in the form of a baby in a stable in the little town of
Bethlehem, and be sure that you respond by receiving that gift
through
obedient faith. |
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