The season of preparation is coming to an end, but not just yet. You have been bombarded with messages of giving for a while now, online, at retail stores, and on every kind of media. Much of it comes from retailers telling you to buy their products and give them to someone else as a gift. A great deal also comes from every charity imaginable, tugging at your heart strings and asking you to support their worthy cause. The atmosphere of giving is seen in everything from bell ringers at red kettles to packages wrapped in colorful paper and ribbons and bows.
In our world, this is a season for giving. And I hope you consider it as such. Just don’t limit yourself to the kind of giving that society encourages. This is a season of giving because of what God has given to us. I used to like to take the ad slogans I would hear at this time of year and apply them to what our loving God did at Bethlehem. Here are a few I remember from years past:
- He cared enough to send the very best.
- Only One was good enough to be called Messiah.
- Immanuel in a manger: priceless.
Maybe you can try doing this yourself. Listen to catch phrases you hear in ads and see how many you can apply to the Christ child.
When I reflect upon what God has given, I am reminded of this verse that is set to music in one of the liturgies of the church:
What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? Psalm 116:12 (NASB)
Another translation puts it this way:
How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? Psalm 116:12 (NIV)
God has given you a Savior, forgiveness, life, salvation from death and the grave, and the certainty of eternity in His presence. Then He heaps on top of that the list that Luther used in his explanation of the first article of the Apostles’ Creed:
… He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.
How can I repay the Lord for what He has given? I can’t. Neither can you. What we can do is gratefully receive what He gives. After all, it is a gift. Having received all these blessings and benefits, you and I should gratefully respond with lives that give to others. Sharing what you have been given is pleasing to our God. While we can never repay God for all His goodness, you can live the way He wants you to live. That shows Him and the world that you are gratreful for all His benefits.
