Christmas is here. Okay so perhaps we still have some time until the actual date, but the season is upon us even now. The most common question asked of me as a child was “what do you want for Christmas?” I still get asked this question by family and I can think of several practical and impractical things to fill my list with. However, this year I want to ask myself the same, but slightly altered, question.
What do I want for Christmas that cannot be bought in a store?
- A deeper relationship with my Lord. Oh I hope I never stop yearning for this. I don’t want to be caught in a place where I think I’ve “arrived” in my relationship with Christ. There is more of Him to know than I could ever dream of.
- A deeper appreciation of my relationship with Christ. My dad has said that when we get to heaven and see people like Moses, and run up to him and ask what it was like to see the Red Sea split, or ask Abraham about seeing God’s glory pass by, that they will say, “Ya, it was great, but tell me what it was like to have the Holy Spirit with you, and have it never leave you?” Our New Testament relationship is unique to those before Pentecost. I don’t want to take it for granted.
- I want to be completely yielding to God being the author of my life story. There are so many things in my life that have not gone the way I thought they would have. There are even some things in my finite mind that I still don’t understand and would change. How dare I? I want to take honor and be humbled that the author of the universe has taken interest in my story. He has specific plans for every aspect of my life, from being and wife to a mother, a friend and a servant. He has details for each. I don’t want to keep any part of it to myself.
I suppose those three things sum most of it up. Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to presents under the tree. But if I don’t get excited about the gifts that are listed above, there is no point in anything else. What’s great is that I already have all things in Christ. ALL THINGS! I wish you could hear me shout for joy right now. Actually I wish I could shout, but I don’t want to frighten the children. Maybe I’ll go downstairs and get them to shout with me. Merry Christmas!
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17
