For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matt 6:21)
Where do your treasures lie? What is your greatest gift? A friend and I have a running gag - it is referred to as "the gift that keeps on giving". An item purchased for less than $10 and for over three and a half years now we have had more fun with this little piece of foam than I ever would have imagined. When I purchased it, it was done so as a joke. I would have been satisfied with the laughs it received when I presented it but it has paid for itself again and again! There in lies the blessing!
The joy in giving comes not from the cost of the item but from the feeling you (as the giver) receive when it is accepted and enjoyed! Sometimes we give a gift and the recipient is anything but excited. It tends to discourage us, we may feel unappreciated, especially if we know that someone else's gift cost less and is not nearly worth what ours is. Sometimes it's put in the back of a closet and never used. Sometimes it get thrown away. Sometimes, later on, that gift becomes invaluable to he who has received it and it's taken out and becomes their prized possession! Sometimes it doesn't fit and it has to be "grown into". We've all been told "it's the thought that counts".
Often the gift we give is wrapped in the most expensive paper and ribbons (some of them cost more than the gift itself). It generally has a tag attached with the person's name on it and our name as the giver. Then again, sometimes it's given in a white plastic bag.
The greatest gift ever given did not come wrapped in brightly colored paper, adorned with ribbons and bows. It came to us in a lowly manger in Bethlehem. It was not purchased with a credit card, it was paid for in blood. It's not something we take out and wear on special occasions, but something we should wear proudly everyday and at all times! It is our most prized possession (or at least it should be). The more we "wear" it, the better it fits. It sets us apart from others. It is the best gift you will ever receive!
As we approach Christmas, take time out of your hustle and bustle and contemplate what you have done with that "gift". Have you put it in the back of your closet? Have you deemed it to be less important in your life than your job or your "things"? Do you only "wear" it on special occasions? If you have yet to unwrap it, look at the tag attached to it, it says: "Love, God".
Where do your treasures lie? What is your greatest gift? A friend and I have a running gag - it is referred to as "the gift that keeps on giving". An item purchased for less than $10 and for over three and a half years now we have had more fun with this little piece of foam than I ever would have imagined. When I purchased it, it was done so as a joke. I would have been satisfied with the laughs it received when I presented it but it has paid for itself again and again! There in lies the blessing!
The joy in giving comes not from the cost of the item but from the feeling you (as the giver) receive when it is accepted and enjoyed! Sometimes we give a gift and the recipient is anything but excited. It tends to discourage us, we may feel unappreciated, especially if we know that someone else's gift cost less and is not nearly worth what ours is. Sometimes it's put in the back of a closet and never used. Sometimes it get thrown away. Sometimes, later on, that gift becomes invaluable to he who has received it and it's taken out and becomes their prized possession! Sometimes it doesn't fit and it has to be "grown into". We've all been told "it's the thought that counts".
Often the gift we give is wrapped in the most expensive paper and ribbons (some of them cost more than the gift itself). It generally has a tag attached with the person's name on it and our name as the giver. Then again, sometimes it's given in a white plastic bag.
The greatest gift ever given did not come wrapped in brightly colored paper, adorned with ribbons and bows. It came to us in a lowly manger in Bethlehem. It was not purchased with a credit card, it was paid for in blood. It's not something we take out and wear on special occasions, but something we should wear proudly everyday and at all times! It is our most prized possession (or at least it should be). The more we "wear" it, the better it fits. It sets us apart from others. It is the best gift you will ever receive!
As we approach Christmas, take time out of your hustle and bustle and contemplate what you have done with that "gift". Have you put it in the back of your closet? Have you deemed it to be less important in your life than your job or your "things"? Do you only "wear" it on special occasions? If you have yet to unwrap it, look at the tag attached to it, it says: "Love, God".
