The Gift That Keeps On Giving 12.09.07

2 Chron 14:6… he (Asa) had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him rest.

Any child growing up in these prosperous United States probably has many things on their mind as we draw near to Christmas Day. Toys of epic proportions dancing through very young minds is the expected and even encouraged deal in these times.

After all, when we were growing up wasn’t that the case? As parents we only want what we had only moreso for our children. That is part and parcel of the American dream. And so we, as children, were very much encouraged to dream – and to dream bigtime – about the gifts that we might receive, and we remember our parents vicariously enjoying our experience as they looked on.

The generation that came before us was raised in the Depression. They knew value. They knew cost. They didn’t mind telling you so. I can’t remember how many times my dad told me about receiving an orange for Christmas – and liking it! But my dad also enjoyed looking on as I anticipated my Christmas goodies – now that times had changed for the better. And so, as I counted down the days of Christmas to my James Bond attaché case, or my stadium electric football, or my Daniel Boone coonskin cap, the minutes seemed like days, and the hours seemed like months, and the days, well, the days seemed like years. So agonizing, and yet so tantalizing at the same time.

The gifts never lived up to advanced billing. I still own none of them except in memory. The James Bond attaché case was cheap plastic. The electric football game wasn’t a realistic as it appeared, and the coonskin cap was really rabbit fur, and it didn’t look like the one Fess Parker wore on TV at all.

But the anticipation…ah…the anticipation. And so it goes. We find ourselves repeating and continuing the American dream, as we likewise encourage and stimulate our kids to dream BIG dreams in these days leading up to Christmas. You see, we understand (with maturity) that when it comes to material gifts, the anticipation is the best part. The anticipation far outweighs the real thing. The gift in the hand is always somewhat disappointing. (NOT worth two in the bush.)

Lost in the midst of all of this, in competition with all the world’s effort, is a far better gift: The rest that comes from God. The Lord looks on as a Father, and, I think, loves to see the same anticipation in His children that we love to see in ours. Only the Father knows that the rest of the story is the best part – not the anticipation. There is only one gift that keeps on giving – and that gift is the best The Father could offer, and His Name is Emmanuel – God with us! In Jesus alone there is true rest. (Satisfaction.)
- Pastor Bill