Will You Give Jesus the Hard Things?

As Christmas time approaches, we sit down again with our children to share the Christmas story with one another. Our boys have often heard this story, so sometimes I am challenged to help them see the story with fresh eyes and real application.

As we opened our advent calendar one day, and watched an accompanying clip of the movie, "The Nativity," related to the wise men bringing gifts, we began talking about why we give gifts at Christmas. One of our boys, ever supplying the Sunday School answer, said, "Dad, we already know this! The wise men brought gifts, so we give gifts. And Jesus was the greatest gift of all."

I answered, "That's true, but the wise men weren't the only ones to bring gifts. Think of Mary. What did she give? Well, she gave God her body to carry Jesus for nine months and give birth to him, all in a culture where being pregnant out of wedlock could mean your death. That must have been a hard gift to bring to God. Or think of Joseph. What did he give? He willingly brought Mary into his home as his wife, protecting her, and brought her over 100 miles during the census right before Jesus was to be born. That had to be hard, too."

Then I asked them, "What hard gifts have we been challenged to bring to God over this past year?" As many of you know, this year has been a big year of transition for us, and that's meant giving up many things. The boys sat back and thought for a bit. Then things began to come out: giving up our dog; moving to a new place; losing contact with some friends. We took some time to write those things on slips of paper and put them in a gold-wrapped box under the tree that represents our gift to Jesus. All of these are things that we gave to God as we wanted to obey him. But just like Mary and Joseph's gifts, God takes our hard gifts and uses them in amazing ways for His Kingdom. That doesn't make them suddenly easy gifts to give, but that makes them worth giving. Because He's worth it all.

What gift have you given God this year? Has it been hard? Here's to seeing God as worth of all we have this Christmas, and recommitting to surrendering all to him.

O come, let us adore him

O come, let us adore him

O come, let us adore him

Christ the Lord!