Stephen spoke this morning on the gift of giving, looking at the shepherds and wise men who brought their gifts and worship to the baby Jesus (Luke 2:15-20, Matt 1:1-2). We often think about giving at Christmas because of these gifts, but really God was the ultimate Giver in giving us Jesus. Paul reminds us that giving should be done generously and not grudgingly, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7) and in giving us Jesus (that ‘indescribable gift‘), we can then have access to all that Jesus gives (hope, love, security, peace, new life, eternal life and so on.) Jesus is effectively God’s total package!
James reminds us that God is a generous giver (see James 1:2-17) and we know that whatever we need, God can and will supply. All His gifts are highly personalised! At Christmas, we think a lot about giving (and receiving), but the shepherds and wise men did not come expecting anything in return. We too need to learn to give as generously and selflessly as they did, for Jesus is God’s ongoing gift – the gift that keeps on giving.
