Share the Gift
Stan Schroeder
We have just celebrated the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. In Canada this is becoming harder and harder. For some government people in Manitoba, the annual Christmas tree in the Legislature has become the more politically correct "Multicultural" tree. Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth. Thankfully, this year Premier Doer has correctly called the tree what it is - a Christmas tree. This amazing feat made the news in the National Post.
The giving of gifts at this time of year is taken for granted. It is a time of celebration of family. It is a time to reflect on the year gone by and to look forward to the year ahead. It is a time for counting our blessings.For Christians it is the celebration of the breaking through of GOD into this world by sending His Son, Jesus. John describes this gift as "the Word made flesh," the embodiment of GOD in human form. What a blessed gift!
As we celebrate the gift and the Giver we need to focus on our reaction to receiving this gift. If we hoard this gift it has little value. If we do not share this gift with others we are just like children fighting under the tree for their gifts. A gift is not truly received until it is shared with others. It brings little pleasure and does not fulfill its
promise until it is shared. It is in sharing that we find its true value.
Throughout this year we want to challenge you to share the gift God gave you with those around you. Ask God to show you whom He wants you to share His gift with. The giving of His Word, Jesus, can and should be a year-round effort. If you equip
yourself with His Word, God will make the appointments for you to share it.
A gift is not truly received until it is
shared with others.
After this challenge was given at the Winnipeg Evangelical Free Church in September, a woman accepted the challenge. She took a copy of How to Find God, an excellent New Testament in the New Living translation. She called the next week to request ten more copies. She had not made it home before she ran into a person whose husband had been diagnosed with cancer. She shared her pain and talked about going back to church, but she said there was so much she didn't understand about Christianity. She gratefully received the gift with its hundreds of helps on understanding the gift of Jesus, the Christ.
This is the ultimate act both of accepting the gift and finding its true value by giving it again. Try it! You may find a whole new joy in receiving the gift and giving it again and again.
"Fear not" is in the Bible about 365 times! God must want us to remember that every day of the year!I am the Lord, who says to you, ear not; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13
