The Wise men brought gifts to Jesus. We sure have the gift part of this event we call Christmas spun in a different direction than the first one on the Judean hills long ago. Of course we know the right thought is that God loves us so much He gave His only begotten Son and as Paul states this gift is unspeakable.
An anonymous poet wrote:
‘The wise may bring their learning,
The rich may bring their wealth:
And some may bring their greatness,
And some bring strength and health;
We, too, would bring our treasures
To offer to the king;
We have no wealth or learning,
What shall we children bring?
We’ll bring Him hearts that love Him,
We’ll bring Him thankful praise,
And young souls meekly striving
To walk in holy ways;
And these shall be our treasures
We offer to the King
And these gifts that even
The poorest child may bring.’
The inner desire to give at Christmas time is a good desire, and the accepting of gifts helps to teach us that God’s gift must be received. When the practices of Christmas are thought out they for the most part teach us our need for the Savior and for each other.
I do not the mostly secular idea of modern Christmas celebrations. And at my age I have assuredly read what Britannica has to say about the day and I am more than familiar with pagan ideas associated with some of the day. But I do like the pure simple message of God's love to His fallen undeserving creatures being demonstrated in such a selfless manner. God send the first Hallmark and who can doubt that He cares enough to send the very best.
Take away the silly commercialism of the day and emphasize the sacrificial nature of the day and you are on the way to getting and giving the message of true love, the kind of love God demonstrated in the Gift of Christ, given out of love, pure and simple.
How we besmirch His love when buy our loved ones gifts which they deserve. We did not and do not deserve Christ. But God sent Him to us anyway. And just in the nick of time too.
