Ah, gift giving! One of the many joys of Christmas. Have you started your holiday shopping this year? Perhaps you have it completed (over achiever, haha)! Anything you’re really excited about giving this year? The perfect something and you know they will be excited to receive? Leave a comment below and let me know.
Have you ever considered why we give these gifts? Sometimes it’s straight up obligation or what is expected. But if we peel all that away, the true reason: we give gifts to show that we care for those we’re giving the gifts to. It’s an expression of our love for them. Some people really show and receive love through gifts! Others not as much, but at the heart of gift giving is showing love.
A couple of easy questions for you:
What is Christmas really all about? The birth of Jesus, of course.
Why was Jesus born as a baby on Earth? To live a sinless life and to pay the penalty for our sins (death) by dying on a cross, of course.
The Greatest Gift of All! Have you heard that before? Jesus is the Greatest Gift of All? You likely have. Is it true? Yes of course! The gift of eternal life?! The promise of heaven?! Forgiveness for all the mistakes I’ve made, both big and little?! You betcha that’s that greatest gift!
As we’re preparing to give gifts to those we love this holiday season, let’s take a few minutes and prepare to give Jesus gifts as well! He’s worthy! And for being His birthday and all, He gets overlooked in the gift giving often enough.
Psalm 51:16-17 NIV
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Definition of contrite: Feeling regret and sorrow for one’s sins or offenses; penitent. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
God will not despise a broken and contrite heart; a heart that feels regret and sorrow for sins. Interesting, right?! When talking about giving gifts to God, a great place to start is your heart. Is your heart right before Him? Have you given God a broken and contrite heart? Are you far from God? In the hustle of the season has your fire for God cooled? A broken and contrite heart is the best gift you can give Jesus! Sometimes it is a tough thing to do, but take some time, today, to examine your heart. Draw close to Him, humble yourself before Him, and offer Him your heart. This should probably be a daily gift that we all give God.
Let’s look quickly at Cornelius and what He gave God.
Acts 10:1-4 NIV
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.
There is a lot more to this story. If you’re not familiar, go read the rest of it when you have a few moments. But I’m highlighting this portion because, how interesting that his prayers and gifts to the poor were received by God as an offering!! How remarkable!
We can give God our prayers. Huh. How wonderful is that?! Easy! The only thing is we have to remember to actually pray. But as far as gifts go, that’s got to be one of the easiest out there. It does reference that Cornelius was God-fearing so I will assume his prayers were more than just requests. Make sure this gift of prayer is full of praise, worship, and thanksgiving. If we’re sending prayers as a gift they should probably be positive.
Cornelius’ gifts to the poor were also received by God. This time of year there are so many ways to give to the poor and apparently it gets God’s attention. It’s a great gift to give Jesus this Christmas season!
So what are you going to give Jesus this year? Give it some thought. What’s the best gift you can give Him? After all, He gave us the Greatest Gift of All!
Be blessed! I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment or reach out via the Connect tab.
