Skip to main content

Now That Christmas is Over Again


After Christmas, there are unwrapped gifts on the coffee table and piano bench for about a week. I'm in no hurry to straighten things up. I rather like the disorderly collection, combined with memories of the faces as they opened their presents with joy. We have a simple system on Christmas day: Our children distribute the gifts to the nine of us, and then we all open them at the same time, shouting "thank you" to each family member one on top of the other. Then our children (even as adults) empty their Christmas stockings (shaped like Santa's pants--something that Norman H. found in a gift shop).

Giving and receiving are roots of Christmas. Christ gave, and many of us have received. And every year at Christmas, we celebrate the enormous blessing of Christ's Ultimate Gift of salvation with our tradition of exchanging gifts. But now that Christmas is over, what will you continue to give? Here are some ideas:

1. Give time to important matters. "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is you life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." (James 4:14) By this time next year, wouldn't you like to look back and have the satisfaction of knowing that you used your numbered days wisely? While the calendar is still fresh, plug in the essentials, and then add the non-essentials rather than the other way around!

2. Give the benefit of the doubt more often. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (Matt. 7:12) We know this verse as the "Golden Rule," but like a speed limit sign, it is often ignored! We really appreciate it when people are quick to forgive us, but are we as quick to forgive others? This makes a great gift. Don't wait until next Christmas to give this to someone in need.

3. Give everyone more love. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) Jesus said it right: We haven't even begun to love people like He loved us. "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." (John 15:12) "Copy me," is what Christ has said to us. When we love people like He loved us, we will put their needs ahead of our own. This is not self-neglect; it is selfless love. There is a difference.

I hope that your Christmas was blessed and meaningful. Before you take down the tree and store all the decorations, consider making the coming year your thank-you note to God.

"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." (II Cor. 9:15)

www.keeptheheart.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Parents Are Not Responsible for That

Parenthood is not a role for wimps or whiners. There are the exciting times such as music recitals, sports tournaments, and graduations. But if your tribe is like ours, you've probably also had the maddening moments, like the time one of our children discovered how to unfasten the tapes on his diaper and used the contents as "chalk" on the bedroom  wall (yes, it was "his," so that narrows the field of suspects). Children are young for a few blinks, and then we spin around and we're hearing "Pomp and Circumstance," that familiar graduation march as our "babies" walk down the aisle in cap and gown. If they choose to go on to college, four snaps later, we're sitting in the auditorium at their college graduation, scanning a long list of names in the commencement bulletin while waiting to watch them walk across the platform to receive yet another diploma. It's warp-speed fast (except that diaper stage). Parents don't min...
45 comments
Read more

Why Abishag and Not Bathsheba?

When you read Bible stories, do you ever wonder about things? I often wonder, and one story on my "wonder list" is the account of the aged King David and his lovely young caregiver named Abishag. David already had plenty of wives, including one very beautiful stolen wife named Bathsheba. When David was struggling to stay warm (Scripture says "he got no heat"), why didn't he call for Bathsheba? I wonder...and I'm going to hazard a guess that they had grown apart over the years. I can't prove it, but it can't be conclusively denied, either. Here's the Scriptural account, to refresh your memory: "Now kind David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. So they sought for a fa...
5 comments
Read more

Moving is Not for Whiners

When I woke up for the first time in my new town, I said to myself, "Where am I?" Now mind you, this is not really a new thought for me, as I often wake up in conference hotels and wonder which state I'm in (other than the state of confusion). But now, I was really wondering about this strange bedroom with the lovely little armchair next to the closet. I didn't recognize a thing in the room, and that's when I remembered... ...I've moved. February 2018 My new hometown doesn't feel at all like home, but I will give it time. It took months of prayer for the Lord to lead me to even consider moving, which eventually led to a position as editor for the Joyful Life Sunday school curriculum at Abeka Books in Pensacola, Florida. Decision day was January 31, 2018. And then a whirlwind. And then a huge moving truck. And then I boarded a flight because in the process of planning this move, I had forgotten all about...
30 comments
Read more