Have you seen the funny comic depicting three wise women visiting Jesus with gifts of food, formula, and diapers?! I chuckled at the practicality of the wise women’s hypothetical gifts, but it also made me wonder what gifts we’re bringing our King in this day and age.
We obviously can’t outgive God. He gave us the greatest gift of His only beloved Son. Everything we have is a gift from Him, including the wisdom, grace, and strength He provides for our daily lives. When we give to the Lord, we’re merely giving back a token of what He gave us.
In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis writes, “Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense his own already... It is like a small child going to its father and saying, 'Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present.'”
As we approach Christmas, wind up 2024 and make plans for 2025, here are 3 gifts we could consider offering our King and the people He’s placed in our lives.
Amid the rush of the holiday season, our time with the Lord can take a backseat. Let’s not rush through our prayer time so we can tackle the next thing on our to-do lists. Instead, let’s seek the Lord wholeheartedly, give Him our undivided attention, and find our rest in Him.
I am also learning to value the time God has given me with my family. Intentionally staying off screens and slowing down is a gift we can freely offer our families, and ourselves! This season, let's plan to purposefully spend more time with our loved ones and build memories for a lifetime.
An advent devotional I read encouraged readers to pause and count 10 things they were grateful for at that moment. I was amazed at how quickly I could come up with a list that included: a comfortable mattress, birds outside the window, memories from a recent vacation, and the ‘puppy eyes’ my dog was aiming at me!
The exercise made me realize how rarely I count my blessings these days. Our pastor recently mentioned that a heart full of gratitude has no room for pride. Gratitude is certainly the best antidote for entitlement and comparison!
The end of the year is a great time to recount our blessings and thank the Lord for His goodness that has sustained us this far.
If ‘acts of service’ is one of the 5 love languages, serving God is our love for Him in action. We don’t serve for recognition or rewards, but as an outflow of our love - a humble offering from a heart that’s grateful for His grace.
Serving God often means serving His people. It could mean lending a listening ear when we’d rather be doing something else, or putting aside personal struggles to walk alongside someone else in their pain.
We don’t serve from our own capacity but from what God has so graciously given us. When we consciously receive our Father’s love, we’ll be able to bless others from the overflow – with our prayers, encouraging words and tangible actions.
As the wise men prioritized seeking the Lord despite hindrances, may we be wise women who prioritize our relationship with Christ this Christmas and in the coming year. I believe our gifts of attention, gratitude and service will delight our King and bless the world around us.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
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