Presents Schmesents.

It is the Christmas season!

YAY!!

I personally LOVE Christmas,

as most people do.

However, 

I feel my love of Christmas comes from a rather unique place,

it's not because of all the lights,

or festivals,

or parties,

or music,

or desserts,

it's because of the PRESENTS!

Please refrain from your immediate reaction of assessing my superficiality, 

and allow me a moment or two to fully explain. 

I 

LOVE LOVE LOVE 

giving presents. 

It's just a fact. 

Ask my friends and family, 

they know. 

I LOVE IT.

And so I love Christmas because,

Christmas gives me the opportunity to give a present to just about everyone I know. 

So to recap, 

I love Christmas because I love presents. 

Another and probably more significant reason why I love Christmas, 

is because I LOVE Jesus. 

And what is Christmas all about?

Why do we even have Christmas anyway?

Because of JESUS CHRIST.

So to recap again,

I love Christmas because I love presents, 

and because I love Jesus.

But the beautiful thing about my two loves of Christmas,

is that they go hand in hand. 

Allow me to elaborate. 

I give someone a present at Christmas for several reasons:

1. Because I love them. 

Simple. 

I give gifts to those I love.

I give gifts to those I want to show that I love. 

Because a present isn't just some random object,

or just useless junk. 

Oh no, 

a present is so much more. 

A present is an expression of my love for that person. 

A present says, 

"I love you. 

I found this for you because I knew you would like it.

I knew you would want it. 

I knew you would use it. 

And so I got it for you, 

and now every time you use it, 

every time you see it,

you are reminded of me. 

And you are reminded of how much I care about you.

And you are reminded of our relationship and what it means to you and to me.

I got you this present because I wanted you to feel important. 

I wanted you to feel special.

I wanted you to know that you matter to me, 

and I want to bless you with a gift that reflects that."

That is what presents are supposed to say.

But sadly I feel we say something more like,

"uhhh here, I would feel bad if I didn't get you anything,

so here's something seems like something you might like."

I hate to sound rude, 

but that's the absolute WRONG way to give someone a present. 

You might as well not even bother if that's what your attitude is. 

2. Because I love Jesus. 

Giving someone a present is a major task for me. 

It's not always easy.

It usually requires a significant amount of 

prayer, 

research, 

and time. 

I pray before I give someone a present,

simply because I don't always know what to give someone,

and I don't want to do it poorly.

So I pray and I ask the Lord to show me what to give,

and who to give it to. 

The Lord is involved in just about every gift I give. 

Because it's another way that I can trust Him. 

It's another way I can show Him that I love Him. 

When I give someone a present, I'm communicating something to God.

And it goes something like this:

"Lord, 

you have so graciously blessed me with this person in my life. 

You have given me this relationship,

and it's been a blessing. 

You have orchestrated everything about it,

and I want to thank you. 

I want to honor you by blessing this person with a gift, 

because you have blessed me with this person and the ability to give to them. 

Thank you Lord for this person in my life. 

I am going to show them how much I care about them through this present."

That is what giving gifts is supposed to communicate to God. 

I use it as a time to rejoice in how the Lord has blessed me.

I use it as a time to worship the Lord for all that He has done in my life! 

Giving other people presents demonstrates my love for my God. 

3. Because the Wise Men gave to Jesus first. 

The Bible lays out the foundation for gift-giving. 

Matthew 2:1-12 records the visit from the Magi, or Wise Men after the birth of Jesus. 

These Wise Men from the East, 

see the star above where Jesus was born and they follow it and come to worship him.

They don't come empty handed.

They come bearing gifts,

of gold, incense and myrrh. 

And since I'm not a Biblical scholar I will now cut and paste from someone who is.

This is an article from David Dewitt for helium.com

1.) Gold: The gift of gold was often reserved for royalty. The Magi told King Herod that they had come to see the one born King of the Jews. It is clear that they recognized Jesus as being royal but the question is why? The issue is the star of Bethlehem. The Magi had seen the star and they recognized the importance of the star in the sky as a sign of a spectacular birth. The Magi brought gold in some form, whether it was jewelry, coins, or just pieces, we are not told. The importance of the gift was that it represented the fact that Jesus was royal.

2.) Frankincense: The gift of frankincense is somewhat unusual. Frankincense was a highly valued commodity and somewhat rare. The Jewish people had a common use for frankincense that was directly connected to the worship of God. In the Temple, the Jews prayed before the Altar of Incense which was always kept burning. The substance burned on that altar was frankincense. When frankincense is burned it gives off a sweet smelling white smoke. The smoke rising from the altar of incense represented the prayers of the people rising to God in heaven. The only use of frankincense for Jews was at this altar and it was reserved for the worship of God. The Magi presenting this gift to Jesus represents the fact that He was indeed divine.

3.) Myrrh: The gift of myrrh seems the most odd of the gifts. Myrrh was extremely valuable and had a number of uses. The most common use was a perfume. Sometimes myrrh might be used in the homes of the wealthy to create a pleasant fragrance but was normally reserved for special instances. The major use of myrrh was for burials. Myrrh was placed on the cloths used to wrap bodies for burial to help prevent the smell of decay following death. The Magi presented this gift to Jesus as a representation that He would one day die. The gift almost seems to convey the fact that Jesus was born to die.

So you see these were highly significant gifts. 

The Wise Men didn't just bring gifts because they were expected to.

They brought them so that they could convey a message.

They said that this little baby was important to them,

and essentially declared that he was the Son of God,

the Messiah,

the King of the Jews. 

The Wise Men declared that Jesus was important.

The Wise Men declared that Jesus was special. 

This is why I give presents. 

Because I love them and because I love Jesus. 

It's not always easy, 

but it's always worth it.