It's About the Gift

Christmas Town USA by DigiDreamGrafix.com

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Christmas songs are playing. The stores are filled with Christmas decorations (and yes, I realize that most of them have been since Halloween!). People are baking, shopping, gift-wrapping, going to parties, giving gifts, decorating trees, putting up lights...

It's a busy time of year. 

Unfortunately, it's usually a stressful time of year. People worry about not having enough money to buy gifts, or they put everything on a credit card and then worry about the bills that will come in January. People worry about what gifts to give. They worry that the gift they receive may be better than what they give. Children count the presents under the tree and use that number to measure how much they are loved. Did someone else get more presents?

For weeks we hustle, and bustle, and spend, and wrap, and cook and decorate and prepare for the perfect holiday... and in a few minutes on Christmas morning, it's all over. 

No wonder this time of year can be so stressful for so many. 

If that isn't the way you experience Christmas, congratulations! You are among the few.

"...behold, I bring you good tidings 

of great joy, 

which shall be to all people."

~Luke 2:10

We get so caught up in the gift giving and celebration, that we have lost the true meaning of Christmas. It isn't about the presents, it's about the gift.

The presents we give each other are meaningless compared to the gift that was given to us. Eternal salvation. Life everlasting. Freedom from the curse of the law.

"Glory to God in the highest, 

and on earth peace, 

good will toward men."

~Luke 2:14

This Christmas, remember that the gifts you give are only a tiny reflection of the gift that he gave. The most important gift you can give, doesn't come wrapped up with a bow, but comes from your heart.