Devotionals
We go out on alot of 'parties' this time of year. You've got the office party, the family parties, the friends parties, the small group parties, and the ministry parties. These are usually at someone's home and it seems each year that there is a quiet conspiracy to have these events at the most 'wealthy' person's home. You know, so that you can put the best face forward....
I always feel inadequate in those situations. I mean, come on now, I drive a beat-up 1993 Taurus that is increasingly something that I wonder will make the trip. I own one suit, but have two ties for it..... My wife and I don't live in some 50,000 sq foot home with an attached servant's quarters. Yet those who have those type of things invite me, the poor man, into their homes.
It is our focus that is the key here. Do we focus on the next latest greatest toy, car, gadget, etc. or do we focus on God and watch His blessings come down?
I'm not bashing my friends' wealth or their status in this world, because I know they are kingdom builders and servants to the most High God. I just wanted to make the point of what this verse means to me. And my obvious weakness to position.
Some people that I have had to attend parties for aren't Christian or Christ-like in their attitudes about money and status. Instead of following what God tells them to do, i.e. reach out into the community or give a gift to someone, they worry about that person's motives or 'truthfulness' in regards to their situation. Some of my Angel Tree children weren't destitute in the physical needs department, and they aren't required to be. But they are destitute in the love department, or even more in the spiritual.
A multimillionaire who's representatives here in Michigan hosted the party I had to attend, is more worried about the six million dollars he's lost this year in Michigan's economy than his employees who stuck with him through it all. The family up on the hill, living in a mansion so big they have to email each other to meet for dinner, throws what amounts to him pennies at a salvation army box to assuage his 'Christmas spirit'. A comment was made to me about some people not needing the help they receive. And a comment about do we truly know if they aren't just 'using the system' in regards to our meeting a requested need. Even I made a list of the stuff I wanted.....and really don't need.
Instead of worrying about what I am getting for Christmas, I have resolved to look back at all the gifts I have been blessed to give. Regardless of 'legitimatizing' the actual need.
There was a t-shirt I saw many times during my tour in the military, "Kill 'em all and let God sort them out." It struck me, our attitude this Christmas shouldn't be about analyzing one's status, position, or financial health in regards to what gift we should give them, rather.....let's just "Gift 'em all and let God sort" out the rest. God didn't send His son down because we met a certain standard, He sent Him because He loves us.
Jesus was born in a manger, not the Hilton. He was wrapped in cloths, not in a baby pj set. He first heard the sounds of animals, not the gentle music of Mozart being piped in the room. He was born to a working class, poor family, who traveled to Bethlehem in the cheap fashion they could, a donkey. And, the gifts he received from the magi most likely financed the family's flight to Egypt. Yet, this was a baby who would live to be our King, and die to be our Saviour.
I am blessed to have been invited into the homes and hearts of many of my friends, church family, and extended family. They have accepted me for who I am, a son of God, rather than what I have. It matters not to them what home I live in, car I drive, or clothes I wear (just that I do wear clothes!). And they give according to their heartfelt love for me rather than analization of what I don't have or what they think I need. And as I place more and more of my 'wants' into the heavenly things and less on the 'material' things, it leads me to one thought.
If I had everything I wanted, where would I put it?
Simple life for a simple man, that's the gift I want this Christmas.
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