I love to suggest gifts to other people for their Christmas gift giving. When you are not paying for the presents, it is easy to offer all sorts of possibilities for suitable gifts. Ed, my old neighbour in Saskatchewan, makes sure I know his price limit for his gift giving if I offer him gift suggestions. When I was a greeter at Walmart, I was aware of what items folks wanted to get for Christmas presents each year. 聽
Each Christmas Season certain games or toys, gadgets, clothing items, etc. are a must have for under the Christmas tree. Some gifts are not meant to last long. A box of chocolates may not last twenty-four hours if it is passed around to share with others. Children are often thrilled with a new toy for about a week.
A Chinese proverb advises that if you want to be happy for a year get married. A year later, who can remember last year鈥檚 Christmas presents? Some presents do last for years but very few a lifetime. The same Chinese proverb mentioned before also states, that if you want to be happy for a lifetime, plant a garden. Ed who sees gardens as a waste of time and energy feels to plant a garden is to invite a miserable time for even one season.
Happiness does have a way of being here today and gone tomorrow. It has been said that sometimes the worst thing that can happen to a person is to get just exactly what they have been wanting. What we want may not be what we need or what is good for us.
The Christmas Season can be a time of overindulgence in food and drink. It also may be a time of overspending for gifts and a resulting hangover of bills for months to come. As the Bible says, it is a time when, 鈥淓verything is permissible for me 鈥� but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible 鈥� but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.鈥�
The Christmas Season is a time to remember that whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we do it for the glory of God by not causing anyone to stumble. It is not hard for us to stumble into excesses in the Christmas Season and in all seasons. Jesus was sent from God the Father, as Emmanuel, God with us, because Adam and Eve's fall into sin crippled us all. We all limp because sin is part of us. The blight of sin may or may not be evident to us.
Jesus came as the gift we need from God.聽 Jesus came to save us by being sinless in our place. He kept the law for our sakes; he gave his righteousness to God in exchange for our sins. He died for our sins on the cross in our place. He provided what we need in his life and death for us. He arose from the dead to prove he was and is God. God sent Jesus to us so that we can know God鈥檚 love is not limited to our lifetime but also to all eternity in heaven.
