It’s almost crunch time!  Have you made your list of people who you respect and love?  Have you checked it twice?  Have you gotten everyone on your list a little something special to let them know of your appreciation and love for them?  Was getting it done fun and filled with joy?  Are you excited about sharing with the special people in your life, the way that you think and thought about them?  Or, are you still rushing around, trying to figure out what they might give you, so that you can at least try to come close to matching values?  Are you leaving people out, that should be included – you know, the ones that are not getting you anything, so why should you get them something?  Are you just dreading this Christmas thing with a capital “BAH HUMBUG!” attitude?

We mess up the whole Christmas thing, by forgetting what it is really all about!  Christmas is a celebration of the greatest gift ever given – the gift of Divinity wrapped in humanity.  The gift of God’s son Jesus given to you and me, so that we might have a way into eternal relationship that changes everything!  Have you ever stopped and thought that “gift giving” is God’s creation?  Think about all that God has given to you and me and one of the most amazing gifts that He has given us, is the gift of being able to give ourselves!  Get this – in our giving, God is allowing us to do what He does!  This is one of the great beauties of Christmas that we often miss and mess up!

We’ve missed the point on both sides of the spectrum!  On the one hand, we have people who give extravagant gifts with the wrong motivation.  And on the other hand we have people who don’t give gifts at all, under the false pretense that this is not really the point of Christmas.

Life is a gift that God has given to each one of us.  What we choose to do with our lives, could and should be a gift back to God.  The sad reality is that many of us, do what we want, all the while dressing it up with religious excuses and self-righteous analogies, which shift the blame off of us and onto God and our supposed growing relationship with Him.  (Ouch – I know that hurts and so do you – if you’re honest!)

Incarnation – The gift of God becoming man should challenge and change us, but all to often, rather than challenge and change, it confounds and confuses us!  We get so caught up in trying to be something that we are not and trying to make excuses for it, that we miss the real growing and living of life.  This is best seen at Christmas time with our warped up idea of giving and receiving.

We should give gifts.  Gifts are not bad, but we need to make sure that the gifts we give are given with and in the right spirit.  Given in the same spirit of our God, Who has given us the gift of life and life everlasting.  Don’t miss the point here – the gift is not near as important as the spirit and attitude of the giving and receiving.

Giving at it’s best is simply an expression of love, appreciation and affirmation!  The gift does not have to be grand or expensive to accomplish its purpose, it just has to come from the right place (our heart), with the right attitude (our love).

Don’t allow others to mess you up this Christmas!  Ask God to help you to make your list and then ask God to help you to choose the gifts for those on your list.  By the way, if you’ve never been shopping with God, then you are really missing an experience!  Now go get it done and enjoy it.  It’s supposed to be fun and filled with joy, so stop the fret, don’t regret and have some fun participating in one of the great creations of God!