Christmas thoughts. . .

Each year our family has tried little by little to get back to the real meaning of Christmas. Originally, this started with making sure we celebrate Jesus by reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. Then, we started only giving our children 3 gifts under the tree to symbolize the 3 gifts Jesus received on his birthday. We have tried making all of our gifts "Christian" gifts, or something that will help them learn more about Jesus such as books or movies about Jesus. Last year, in our attempt to scale back the focus on ourselves, we only purchased one gift for the kids to put under the tree. But still, I feel it isn't enough.

I keep thinking to myself, "If this is really our celebration of Jesus and His birthday, why do we give presents to each other? We don't need anything . . . and there is a world of people out there who do. They need food and clothing and education and access to good medical care. And most of all, they need Jesus." So, what do we do when we celebrate someone else's birthday? We take them gifts or do something special for them, not for ourselves. yes, it's fun to give gifts to children and relatives and teachers and neighbors. But, what would Jesus want on HIS birthday? I think he has told us plainly in His Holy Word, what he wants for His birthday and every other day that He has made.

Read with me from Matthew 25:31-46

The Sheep and the Goats
31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Jesus said that whatever we do to help the hurting and hungry, the needy and imprisoned, the orphans and widows (as we read in James 1:27), we are doing for Him! As our gift to Him! He wants us to help others who are in need. Not that we can't or shouldn't give to people who want for nothing, as describes most everybody on my gift list. But we certainly should be using this time to give to those people who are in great need of love, hope and joy.

I don't know how this will translate into our gifting this year. But I want to break away from the commercialized idea of Christmas and go back to Jesus as the center of this Holy Day of celebration. Here are a few thoughts we are working through. Maybe they will inspire you to give more to Jesus this year as well! I would love to hear your thoughts on what else we can do to give Jesus what he wants for Christmas!

1. Have all of the gifts under the tree be for Jesus this year. Thoughts - we could give Him our thoughts, our hearts, maybe an area where we are struggling to give Him Lordship.

2. We can volunteer at a food bank or homeless shelter on His Birthday.

3. We can give presents to the Angel Tree

4. We can take a meal or special "happy"to a neighbor or friend who is a widow.

5. We can give to orphans around the world, maybe even give a gift to an orphanage in someone else's name (so, if I give my sister a present this year, it could be a donation in her name) instead of buying them a present that will go unused. Below is a video of an orphanage in Haiti where my sister's long time friend works (Her name is Karris and you see her in the video).

(scroll down to the end of the page to mute the "playlist")



6. Maybe give to a family you know who is trying to raise money to adopt on of the millions of orphans God has commanded us to care for.

7. We can make a birthday cake and sing to Jesus.

8. We can volunteer to work for the salvation army, ringing the bell to raise money for the needy.

Again, I'm not sure how we will make this Christmas different just yet, but I have yet to start my Christmas shopping, so don't be surprised if you get a special note inside your present this year!