Christmas Giving

The relationship of Christmas with gift-giving may be bemoaned by many, but the connection is a biblical one. I am not referring to the crazed run through the mall in late December or the White Elephant gift exchange at the office party, but the concept of generously and freely giving gifts because God gave us his Son to redeem us; this is the association that cannot and should not be avoided. The Bible says that our love for each other, and thus our love for God can be measured, at least in part, by our generosity and the willingness with which we give tangible gifts to one another (see 1 John 3:16-17). Being the targets of God’s love necessarily implants a desire to be the kind of person who meets the needs of others. Knowing what it is to be loved by God is an experience that the Bible says should drive us to give as freely as we have received. A redeemed heart will find increasing satisfaction in reaching out, even at great personal cost, to enrich and enhance the lives of others through the giving of time, talent and resources. So while the world may be giving gifts for all the wrong reasons (and complaining about it a good part of the time) we can piggy-back on this “gift-giving season” and give to help, benefit and encourage as a reflection of Christ and for the glory of God.

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Fresh Start

Embedded in the Jewish calendar of the Old Testament is the ultimate “reset button.” Every fiftieth year, after a perfect set of seven “seventh years,” the ram’s horn was to sound and everything was to start afresh. (See Leviticus 25.)  In the “Year of Jubilee,” as it was called, all debts were cancelled, all contracts reworked, all property titles were cleared, and every working arrangement was to be renegotiated from scratch. There were mandatory family reunions, divinely sanctioned feasts, and extended vacations required for everyone. It was a time of contemplation, rest and new beginnings. While we may never find such a holiday on the date book of our modern avaricious culture, it is a refreshing biblical concept to contemplate. God is certainly a God of fresh starts. He is in favor of the periodic restart. In his generosity, he loves to grant us the grace to hit the “erase button” and start drawing a brand new picture. So if you feel like your life is hopelessly tangled up, or you think you’ve made a colossal mess of things, then call out to the God of the Jubilee, take a day off, and ask our gracious God for a brand new start. You might be surprised at how willing God is to say, “Let’s start over.”

For more devotionals sermons and resources go to http://www.focalpointministries.org/