Tis the Season

‘Tis the Season, that’s for sure! With all the Holiday Christmas displays (and sales, sales, sales) in the stores, Christmas lights and decorations up on houses and Christmas music being heard everywhere we go, there is no doubt that the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ is upon us. And it really is, but not for the reason that the retailers, or the liberals, would have us to believe.

Disclaimer: This post is not anti-giving and receiving of gifts for Christmas. I believe there is nothing wrong with prettily wrapped packages under a tree or exchanged between friends, family, co-workers, etc. But Christmas is more than that – much more!

We celebrate the season because we received a gift that couldn’t be bought with money – the gift of Jesus coming to earth as a baby, to give us a life we couldn’t have had without him. Yes, one way we give is with our money and that is a good thing. Like it or not, money is what rules the world, and giving with money is one way to help spread the Good News, feed the poor, build a church, etc. But it’s not money or material gifts that I’m focusing on here.

This Season, every year, is filled with joy and fun and pleasure, but it’s also filled, for many, with pain and loneliness and despair. This can be the best and worst time of the year. This year in particular there are many hurting people. The current economy situation is a crisis for many. People are losing their savings, retirement, jobs, security, homes and hope. In addition, we have been embattled in the war on terror for the last seven years and it is a war we cannot afford to lose, but in the meantime we continue to lose wonderful heroes who’ve selflessly given the gift of their lives for the cause of freedom.

With that in mind, I want to talk briefly about giving like God gave. There are so many people we can affect by giving freely and generously those things that cannot be bought. One only has to look around to see the need that is evident everywhere. When we make a phone call to someone who is lonely or hurting, that is a gift. When we smile, are sincere, or encouraging to someone else, that is a gift – especially if it’s to a tired clerk this time of year. If we practice kindness, courtesy and love to others whether we know them or not, that is a gift.

The giving of time is probably the most expensive gift of all, because while money can be re-made or re-earned, time cannot. So when we think of it that way, we see how precious a gift of serving is. By spending time to help others we are truly giving a great gift. Whether we are visiting or running errands for a shut-in, or doing yard work or house work for someone who cannot do it themselves, we are giving a gift of ourselves and a gift of the Father. When we volunteer at a food bank, an animal shelter, a Crisis pregnancy center or a nursing home, we are giving a gift of ourselves and a gift of the Father. And when we simply let someone go ahead of us in line, aisles at stores, in the mall or in traffic, or extend mercy to someone who is rude or has cut us off, we are giving a gift of ourselves and a gift of the Father.

I think that giving tangible gifts to those we care about is a wonderful thing when kept in perspective. But maybe we should get better about giving those things that are intangible. What if we spent less money on inconsequential things this year, but invested more of our time, talent and treasures making this world a better place? What if we took a moment to look around, to find a need and fill it, or find a hurt and heal it? What if we gave like God did and still does?

A good bloggy friend recommended this video to me and I’d like to share it here and now. If you get this post via email and can’t just play it, simply click on the link below. I’ll bet you’ll be glad you did! Blessings!

Youtube Video ~
Advent Conspiracy 08
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py-4KR6XwWc