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A season for giving or receiving?

God never gives someone a gift they are not capable of receiving. If he gives us the gift of Christmas, it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it. (Pope Francis)

Pondering Christmas a bit this morning - why? So many times we think of Christmas as a 'season' rather than a gift and God meant it as a gift, not merely a season! 

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him." (John 3:16-18)

A gift given is of little worth if it is never received - right? I have a great delight in the ease of ordering things online and then receiving them pretty much effortlessly to my home. I expect to receive them. I order these things, but they are not all for me. There are times when those things I receive are intended as 'gifts' for another - to be received by them - cherished by them. God gave his Son - we are to receive this gift - to cherish it with our whole heart. To observe a gift extended to us and then turn away from the giver is actually saying we don't value or desire the gift, but it also says we don't honor or respect the GIVER!

Christmas is indeed a 'season' as our world sees it - starting sometime right after the Halloween candy is put out! I jest, but it is so true. As soon as the candy is out, the stores start to gear up for the 'holiday rush'. Let's not get so consumed by the 'busy-ness' of buying the perfect gift that we forget all about the 'perfect gift' offered to us in Christ Jesus. We might do well to stop to ponder Christ FIRST in this 'season'. It might just help us to not get so caught up in the 'rush'. Understanding Christ's gift might just change the way we see Christmas. Just sayin!
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