Christmas Gifts

(Proverbs 19:6 Message)  Lots of people flock around a generous person; everyone's a friend to the philanthropist.

Seeking the favor of an important or a generous person is not uncommon. However, one might think that the favor sought would always be for natural gifts but that is not necessarily the case. When there are no natural gifts to be had then the secondary gift may even prove to be more important to the seeker than the primary gift.  That is the gift of association.

It would not be stretching it to say that most folks would like to be more important than they think they really are. One way of accomplishing that would be to associate with people with whom they feel are higher up the ladder than they are. The outworking of such a relationship gives them the privilege of name dropping and name dropping makes them feel more credible…they think.

In East Texas we call this ‘shucking and jiving’.

However, things are much different when seeking a relationship with the Lord. When one has a relationship with the Lord then all of heaven’s gifts are a part of that relationship without any ‘shucking and jiving’. That makes everything primary (both the relationship and the gifts), and nothing is secondary because all of it comes wrapped in the love of God.

Just think about it…He is in the Spiritual gifts, He is in the physical gifts, He is in the financial gifts and He is in the relationship gifts as well as everything else that heaven has stored up for those who love Him. One might even say that a relationship with the Lord is like opening CHRISTmas gifts every day.

Jesus said, “…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father”.  The same thing should be true when people see us. When one sees us they should also see our generous Father. As the Father has given generously to each of us then we should also give generously to the orphans and the widows and to the poor. As we do give I am sure it puts a smile on the Lord’s face as well as these words on His lips…”You got it”.

It is something like us passing out CHRISTmas presents everyday wrapped in the same package of love that our gifts were wrapped in.

I remember as a little country boy that my Christmas present was like most other country boys at that time. I do not recall any presents being wrapped in beautiful colored paper with bows on top…that came later. Most presents were either something simple or something handmade and if they were wrapped at all they were wrapped in brown paper and tied with string

I do not think I knew anyone who actually had a Christmas stocking to hang up either…we would just hang up a sock. In my sock I always remembered getting an apple, an orange and a little piece of peppermint candy. I could not have been happier than if my sock had been filled with money. Even then I had a deep appreciation for the heart that gave those gifts rather than the gifts themselves.

My conclusion is if one seeks the Lord first then all of the other things will be added and this is exactly what continues to happen in my life to this very day. I continue to enjoy the small things of life because they all seem much bigger when they are wrapped in the love of the Lord.

Father,

I thank You for showing me Your love through Your presents and Your presence. Because of Your love I lack for nothing. My desire is to be as generous with others as You have been with me.

Amen