2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)
Each of you should give what you have decided in your
heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver.
Here is a story retold about giving gifts. There are some great lessons to be learned.
Open your eyes and mind and see what God has to say through the story.
"What happened to it," the child asked.
"What happened to what?" someone replied.
"My gift for Mom and Dad. It was the smallest and it
got lost," he sadly replied.
It happens that way. It seems that when it comes to gift
giving we feel the need to outdo each other. The bigger the box, the more money
we spend, the more love expressed.
It's simply not true. It's all a lie and we know it.
"Oh, you didn't have to..."
Yes they did. The world demands it of us. You know you
would have felt rejected, ignored and overlooked if they didn't give you
something.
"I have to get a gift for Joe. He gave me something
last year."
"I'm only sending cards to people who sent them to
me."
How sad. Gift giving has become a matching game. Or worst
yet, a competition.
So it was on this Christmas morning.
"I can't believe all of the presents!" someone
said.
"This is even more than last year!" the oldest
child confirmed.
"I guess Santa out did himself this year," Dad
said.
"You must have been really good!" said Mom.
"Wait before you open them; let's get a picture of
it all. We can compare it to last year's gifts," said Dad.
Then the reds and greens of fancy Christmas paper flew
across the room. The bows and ribbons were crushed among the efforts to get to
the gifts.
The youngest child was lost at times in the rush to find
his own Santa's treasures but managed to survive somehow.
"Don't forget the gifts we got for each other!"
one child yelled.
The youngest child stopped what he was doing. He wanted
to watch his parents when they opened his special gift.
But it was nowhere to be found.
"What happened to it?" the child asked.
"What happened to what?" someone replied.
"My gift for Mom and Dad. It was the smallest and it
got lost," he sadly replied.
The others were too busy to help him find it. They
already began clearing away the paper and he feared they had tossed it in the
garbage.
"You need to get bigger gifts. You don't lose big
gifts," his older sister said laughing.
"But it was the biggest gift of all," the child
replied.
He sat down in frustration and began to cry.
"Is this it?" his brother asked as he held the
little box in his hand. "I almost stepped on it."
"That's the biggest gift of all?" the sister
said mockingly. "What a joke!"
"It is! It is!" he shouted back. "You'll
see!"
Then, grabbing it from his brother's hand he straightened
out the bow and handed it to Mom.
"Daddy, come here. This is for you, too," he
said while sniffling away his tears.
Everyone stopped what they were doing to see what he had
given. Perhaps just out of curiosity, maybe just to laugh.
Carefully Mom unwrapped the gift and opened the box.
"Oh, my!" she said as she slowly sat down on
the couch.
"What? What is it?" someone said.
Then Dad sat down next to her to share the special
moment.
"Oh, I see." he said. Looking at his wife he
humbly said, "It is indeed the biggest gift."
Then Mom reached in, pulled out the gift and placed it on
her hand.
It was the Christ Child in the cradle.
Dad glanced over to look at their manger now buried
beneath the all too many gifts.
"Clear away those things," he asked of his
oldest child.
The dimly lit star attached to the manger shown down on
the spot where the Christ Child would normally be.
"But he took it from..." his sister began to
say until Mom interrupted her.
"He took it from the story of Christmas. The real
reason we should be celebrating," she said.
The small child was standing next to the tree. The white
lights sparkled off the warm streams of tears that ran down his face. Quietly
he explained..."Every year we think about how to give the biggest gift. I
thought that this year I would give the best gift anyone could ever give. The
pastor at Bible school asked us to think about the greatest gift of all. Then I
thought about Jesus and knew that I could not ever out give God. So my gift to
you and Dad was the Biggest gift of all...ever!"
Suddenly it was silent. Mom glanced around the room and
humbly said, "I am ashamed. We had forgotten the meaning of it all."
Then motioning to her son she said, "Come here. You
were right. The Littlest One was indeed the Biggest Gift of all!"
Dear Lord, we thank You for the biggest best gift we
could ever get. We pray that this Christmas we would not forget the lesson that
the young boy taught his family. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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