The
Gift
I have very few memories
of celebrating Christmas when I was growing up. Needless to say I wasn’t one of
those children who received gifts on Christmas day. Before you start feeling sorry for me, please
realize that I think it was a cultural thing with my family. I really didn’t miss the celebration or the
gifts. As I got older and had children
of my own, Christmas and gift giving took personalities of their own. When my two children were growing up, they
loved Christmas and in our home it was a big production. Not much have changed with them over the
years.
Because of my upbringing
I don’t get infected with the Christmas bug.
What I like about Christmas is the music and the message it’s supposed to
embrace. Yet commercialized Christmas
seems to be about giving things and people expecting. Every year the television commercials seem to
start earlier. People will camp for days
before a store so they can save fifty or two hundred dollars. When you account for the time they spent
waiting, they would have done better buying on-line. Christmas is the biggest commercial season of
the year. Then it a ll ends in one
day. The day after Christmas you can get
better deals than black Friday.
Christmas is supposed to
be about the greatest gift humanity has ever received in the person of Jesus
Christ. Yet as I do my shopping on
Christmas eve (since that’s my tradition) I will be so stressed out I won’t be
thinking about Jesus the gift, but more about what gift to get for people who
already have too much.
I must admit that I am
annoyed by the contemporary way we celebrate Christmas. I wish I could fall asleep the day after
thanksgiving and wake up December 27.
Yet somewhere in the
midst of all the hoopla, there is a gift we are missing. That gift is really you. That’s right, you!! The birth of the savior
was for you. All of heaven celebrated
that birth because you were gifted back to God.
God was God before the birth. The
universe existed before the birth. You
were doomed before the birth. You, the
precious gift of the universe was placed center stage because of the birth. You, the gift, wrapped in the grace of God
and presented priceless to a surprise d universe and a smiling
God.
It doesn’t matter what
kind of year you had, you’re still the gift.
It doesn’t matter whether you recognize it or not, you are still the
gift. Your wrapping doesn’t determine
how precious you are. The one who is totally blown away by you is God who loves
his gift as if it was the only one he ever received. You are Jesus’ gift to God, to the
universe. You are the gift Jesus paid
dearly for on a black Friday. One day
soon there will be the great unwrapping of you, the gift. Your eyes will be opened and even you will be
surprised how precious a gift you are.
In the midst of this
crazy season, take a moment to appreciate what it took to make you such a
priceless gift to the God of the universe.
Thank God for this gift
too wonderful for words! 2 Cor 9:15
Wilny Audain
Self-Esteem Strategist
"Where there is a Wilny, there's a way." www.wilnyaudain.com
443 226-3165
305 621-3882 (fax)
Self-Esteem Strategist
"Where there is a Wilny, there's a way." www.wilnyaudain.com
443 226-3165
305 621-3882 (fax)
This is perfect, Odie, and so very well said! A very merry and blessed Christmas to you and Linda~
ReplyDeleteWell said! Amen to that.
ReplyDeleteOdie - there was a really good telling of the Nativity on BBC last Christmas. It is now out on DVD and i bought it a couple of weeks ago. Lou and i watched it and she said it was the first time the Nativity story really made sense and the people in it became "REAL" people for her. It gave flesh to the bones of the story.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you'd be able to get it thru BBC America - and i'm not sure ordering from here would be compatible with a player in the US. But worth a watch if you ever get a chance
Beautiful post, Odie. Our life is a gift from God and to God.
ReplyDeleteUnusual, but that's the way to put it. We are that wonderful gift! Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to you and your family. And joy to the world.
ReplyDelete