Saturday, December 29, 2012

Gift or Resolution?

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas! 

 
Gifts were given...Gifts were received...and by now, Gifts have been returned or exchanged if they didn't 'fit'.

Any of you have an awkward Gift situation?  Awkward Gift situations can include receiving that 'thing' that we have no idea what we are going to do with.  Or an awkward Gift situation may be shopping for the person who has everything or who you have no idea what to buy for.  It's awkward when someone Gift's you when you have no gift for them...has that ever happened to you?

Did you leave anyone off your Gift list this year?  Anyone...anyone?

Some of us do so - inadvertently...we aren't thoughtless people...or people with Scrooge-like tendencies...we just get busy and forget someone...or we just never saw that Gift coming and wish we would have had one to reciprocate with.

Unfortunately, we sometimes forget the most Important Person when it comes to our Christmas gift giving...the Person who should be at the top of the list...the Person this holiday is all about to begin with.

Did you give Jesus a gift this Christmas?  It is His birthday we are celebrating and most of us do a good job of acknowledging that even in the hustle and bustle of this commercialized holiday...but how many of us are actually purposeful in Giving HIM what He wants for Christmas?

Now if you didn't give Jesus anything for Christmas yet don't panic...contrary to popular belief which is supported by a few faulty Christmas Carols...the Magi or Wise Men didn't show up with Jesus' first Christmas Gifts until He was closer to two years old.

Right now, during the brief lull between Christmas and the celebration of the New Year, is a great time to ask Jesus what He would like from you for Christmas!  In my home we have done this for years.  We start talking about, and praying about, what Jesus might want from each one of us beginning the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Being deliberate in this really helps to focus our attention, throughout the season, on what is really important.

After each of us have heard from the Lord we record our gift on a slip of paper and place it in specially designated boxes under the tree. These are the first gifts we open on Christmas morning...sharing with the rest of the family what we 'got' Jesus for Christmas.

Now I know it's too late to do that this year...but again it's not too late to ask and give Jesus what He really wants this year.

The good news is that this can take the place of a New Year's Resolution as well!  Almost every year Jesus has asked those in my home for a long term commitment...like taking better care of His temple (that would be my body), or praying for an unsaved friend, or being the one to make sure that a food donation is made to our church pantry each week for the needs of the community. 

I don't know about you but I'm not very good at keeping Resolutions...it seems like my good intentions and determination of will tend to wane before the end of the month.  This Gift to Jesus approach is much more successful for me though.  Due in whole to the fact that I don't give my Gift to Him under my own power.  Gift giving to Jesus becomes a catalyst to a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him as I seek the power of His Spirit to carry it out.

So if you haven't taken the time to ask Him what He wants this year take the next couple of days to prayerfully do so.  The answer may come immediately...there might be something that He's been hinting at for a while now.  Or it may come more slowly and you might have to be deliberate in making time to sit quietly at His feet to listen.

This year it took a while for me to figure out what He wanted from me...in fact it didn't all come together until Christmas Eve morning.  As I sat with Him I began to journal words and phrases that had been rolling around in my heart and mind over several weeks...as I asked Him what all of this meant I saw a common thread...and realized just what He wanted.  I am excited to see what will come of this as He and I work together in the New Year to bring it to pass!

I hope you have fun asking Jesus for His wish list...and that you enjoy the process of giving Him that special Gift!  If you want share here in the Comments or on the Facebook link what your Gift to Jesus is this year.  I'll be sharing mine in this week's Verse to Chew On.

Serving Him and you,
Michelle...ApronGirl

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