Early on Christmas morning when I was about seven or eight, my father announced that Father Christmas had left two of my gifts in the kitchen because he had to bring them into the house through the back door. Presents were normally placed in my stocking or under the tree, so I was a little baffled. The two extras turned out to be a blue bike and a red scooter. Years later, I found out they were second-hand. Dad had found them, painted them, and made them look new.
Nowadays, parents spend crazy amounts of money at Christmas, but I don’t believe a child has to be showered with expensive toys to know they are loved. In fact, too many gifts can sometimes have the opposite effect as things and people become devalued. Once, my nanna Dil gave me a bag of knitted doll’s clothes, and I cherished them as much, if not more, than my shop-bought presents.
When we light the fourth advent candle on the last Sunday before Christmas, we think about love. Some people struggle to understand and accept god’s love because they weren’t raised in families where their mothers took time to chat about their day when they arrived home from school, or where their dads painstakingly sanded down and re-painted bikes and scooters, or their grandmothers spent hours knitting clothes for cherished baby dolls. I have often said I wish I could share my childhood, but more than that, I long to share the love of Jesus. All human love is imperfect, but he is the parent and friend who will never let us down.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, please show us ways of sharing your love this Christmastime, and please direct us to those who need it most.
Song: Noel by Chris Tomlin (Featuring Lauren Daigle)
Scriptures to Ponder
John 3: 16: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Psalm 36: 7: “How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.”