January 2007

IS it better to Give or Receive?

“What gifts did the wise men bring to the Christ child?” asked the Sunday School leader.

Child 1: “Gold, Frankincense and Mermaids.”

Child 2: “No, Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh – but I bet he really wanted a puppy!”

I’m reminded of a Christmas card I once saw which had the Christ child sitting up and pointing over the shoulders of the wise men as they resented their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh and he’s saying “The camel! I want the camel!

What does the Christ Child really want from us? What gift can we bring him? I believe the best gift we can give him – the gift that he really wants – is the gift of receiving. The heart of Christmas is not about US giving but about GOD giving and US receiving.

The gift Christ wants from each of us, as we move into this New Year of 2007, is accepting him – receiving his love, his grace and his forgiveness into our hearts and lives. Our reaching out to receive him as Saviour and Lord.

How might you give Christ the gift of receiving this New Year? How might you accept what he has to offer? A verse of the carol “ In the Bleak Mid-Winter “ seems to spell it out.

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man, I would do my part;
Yet what can I give him? – give my heart.

May you know, in this year ahead, the presence of Christ walking each step of the way with you in the good times and the sad times.