Meditation: Gifts to Give for Christmas and Every Day
We Christians give gifts at Christmas in humble imitation of the Gift that God gave-His only Son, our Lord Jesus. For the Christian the emphasis is on giving, not receiving.
A man told what happened to him one Christmas Eve when he was a boy, after the Christmas story had been read. After he and his brothers and sisters had opened all their presents, his father asked for quiet and said, “Of all the presents you received tonight, I want you to decide which one you like the very best and set it in front of you.”
When this was done, the father continued, “Now I want each of you to think of someone you know who is less fortunate than you, and who is not getting presents as you are, and tomorrow we will have the fun of delivering to this person the presents you have chosen as the very best.”
This man said he could never forget this experience. It taught him what Christmas was all about-when God gave to mankind the very best He had.
Let us think together these next few days about gifts we Christians can give, not only at Christmas, but every day the year round to help make real to people the true spirit of Christmas: the love of Christ.
Meditation: Gifts to Give: Time
“The greatest gift I ever received,” said a successful young attorney, “was a gift I got one Christmas when my dad gave me a small box. Inside was a note saying. ‘Son, this year I will give you 365 hours, one hour every day after dinner. It’s yours. We’ll talk about what you want to talk about, we’ll go where you want to go, play what you want to play. It will be your time.’”
“My dad not only kept his promise of that gift,” he said, “But every year he renewed it—and it’s still the greatest gift I ever had in my life. I am the result of his time.’”
A gift of time is not only easy on the budget, but it is personal as well. It is a rare commodity, a present planned for one person only, the recipient.
Discussing what to give her aging, ailing father for Christmas, one woman said, “I’m going to give daddy time-much more time.” What a wonderful and rare gift! We love our old folks but have, or think we have, little time to give them. When one is quite old and has only time, a little bit more of it from friends and loved ones is the most precious gift he can receive and that we can give.
The most personal, most appreciated and most unique gift that you can give is the girt of time. Your time. The valuable twenty-four hours a day that only you can spend.
For Pondering:
By far the best Gift ever offered is the One God gave when He sent Jesus. “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is the best gift because it is many gifts in one. Jesus is God’s promise of forgiveness. He is Emmanuel-God with us. Through Jesus we receive the gift of being members of God’s family, the gift of a loving heavenly Father, the gift of a God who knows us by name and cares about each of us, the gift of the Holy Spirit abiding within us with all His power, the gift of a place in God’s heaven.
Some have left the gift unclaimed. Others have accepted it and carry it around, but have failed to remove the wrappings and look inside to discover the hidden splendor. The gift is addressed to you personally. It is God’s love for you, His forgiveness, His peace, His saving power, His presence with you both now and for all eternity. All of this wrapped up on one Person, the One who was born in Bethlehem of Judea.
Have you claimed this gift? A gift is not a gift until it is accepted.
~ Presbytera Emily Harakas & Fr. Anthony Coniaris, DAILY MEDITATIONS and Prayers for the CHRISTMAS ADVENT Fast and Epiphany: Living the Days of Advent and Epiphany according to the Orthodox Church Calendar
