The Gift

“Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat”—and so is the pile of presents stored under a blanket in my bedroom. “Please put a penny in the old man’s hat”—or in my VISA account, if you have any extras!

While this Christmas carol may be fun to sing in rounds, the whirlwind of Christmas shopping, gift-exchanging, and bill paying isn’t always so enjoyable. The craving of our consumerist society to accumulate more stuff seems to escalate at Christmas, and we find ourselves trying to balance what we want to do, what we feel others expect us to do, and what we think we ought to do. For Christmas to be full of joy and peace, we need to do more than give the right gifts; we need to get it right about the gifts.

Let’s start simple. Giving and getting are not wrong. In fact, they’re very right. But being generous didn’t start with us; it started with God, for on that first Christmas day, the world was given a gift more magnificent than we had ever imagined, more beautiful than we had ever dreamed, and more needed than we had ever desired. This Gift was no last-minute decision or day-before find, for from eternity past, God the Father had been ready and waiting for that moment, and “when the time was right, God sent his Son, and a woman gave birth to him”(Gal. 4:4).

Can you imagine how excited the Father must have been? Surely He could hardly wait for Bethlehem. If you’re a parent, you can start to understand. At my house, I don’t know who’s looking forward to Christmas morning more—my girls or their mom and dad! We can’t wait to see their faces and sense their delight, to hear their gasps and feel their grateful hugs. Yes, parents should be wise in their purchases and everybody knows we shouldn’t blow the budget, but if there was ever a time for extravagance, surely Christmas is it! God was no Scrooge when He sent His Son. He cared enough to send the very best.

This gift was more costly than we can fathom and more unselfish than we will ever understand. We will never deserve a gift so precious, and we can never express our gratitude too much. The best thing we can do with God’s gift is the best thing we can do with any special gift—be excited, be thankful, and receive it with joy.

The reality of Christmas isn’t the presents and the gifts; it’s the gift of God’s presence. So as we buy and wrap and shop and share, may our generosity reflect the God who “so loved the world that He gave.”