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Gift Exchange

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son… John 3:16a

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

We’ve been doing it for weeks now: hunting down the perfect gifts for the people we love. When we wrapped them up, we imagined the joy they’d bring.

We claim to expect nothing in return. We try to give with no strings attached. But if we’re being honest, we’d realize we are expecting their gratitude. At the very least, we want a look of wonder on their faces to fill our hearts to the brim.

And so it is with God.

In her book, The Greatest Gift, Ann Voskamp says: “…the greatest gift we can give our great God is to let His love make us glad.” Imagine? God gives us life, all His love, and His Only Begotten Son, and all He expects back is for us to feel joy!

Now imagine a loved one shoving the gift we give them into a corner, unopened, or even worse, opening it in front of us, only to make some derogatory remark that our gift isn’t good enough. After we’ve spent time, money, and our heart searching it out, they crush our spirit with their response.

And so it is with God. We do the same when we don’t live life to the fullest, or we complain or fight against the life we’ve been given. It’s like shoving the gifts and talents He gave us into the deepest corner of ourselves, letting them go unopened and unused. It crushes His spirit.

Christmas is a time to recognize all that we’ve been given. God doesn’t just gift us His Son on Christmas morning. He gives us Jesus, and grace, every day of the year.

All He wants is for us to recognize and receive them with joy. That’s what gladdens His heart. That’s what completes the gift exchange with God.

Questions for Reflection:

*When I give gifts, do I want them to fill the receiver with joy?

*Am I joyful about what God gives to me?

God doesn’t just gift us His Son on Christmas morning. He gives us Jesus, and grace, every day of the year.

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9 thoughts on “Gift Exchange”

    • I love how you wrote CHRISTmas, Gersom! It breaks my heart when people write xmas, as if they’re crossing out The One it’s all about. I hope you had a blessed day yesterday, and 2021 brings you good health and great peace.

      For anyone looking for daily, Biblical inspiration, Gersom does an amazing job on his blog: https://gersomclark.com/

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      • Thank you very much for your kindness and encouragement, Claire, it means a lot to me. Take heart, JESUS is and will be glorified and acknowledged more even if there are people who disregard the reason why we are celebrating His birth. I followed the format from JJ, our fellow blogger in CHRIST, as a reminder that this “holiday” is all about JESUS and what His first advent resulted in i.e. Salvation from GOD. We look forward to our Savior and Lord’s second advent. May 2021 be a different and brighter year for all of us. A blessed week to you and your family!

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  3. You are so correct Claire. The gift of the Incarnation is so perfect. A God with us , to help us in achieving salvation for our souls. He is pure love and our response should always be a humbled return of that love.

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  4. A beautiful timely short message of love. Truly , Christmas is about Jesus , His Grace and Mercy towards humanity. The greatest gift from heaven to us. Thank you Claire for this post. Have a great Christmas time with Family and loved ones – And Happy New Year 2021.

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