by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is…) Books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, www.patlambchristianauthor.com
Train up a child…
The Most Important Gift We Give
Isn’t it strange how it is Jesus’ birthday and yet we sometimes forget to give a gift to him? How would we like to go to a birthday party in our honor and have all the gifts there be given to someone else? Our children need to understand that we are celebrating the birthday of Christ. They need to think of a gift that they can give to Jesus.
Of course, we all know that the reason for the season is the gift that God gave the earth by sending his only son to the world for our sakes. We are told that in John 3:16. so, what could we possibly give that would begin to show our appreciation for that gift?
In the book of Matthew we read, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine; you did for me’. (Matthew 26: 7, 8) We see by this passage that we give gifts to Jesus by doing things for others.
It is so heartening to see so many wonderful things being done at Christmas time for others. I stopped to make a deposit at the bank recently and saw a notice that the bank had adopted a family to help this Christmas. . One Springfield TV station had an article about someone providing coats to children. A church in a nearby town gave a ham to every family in town. Many of the shows in Branson have collected food to disperse. Shows in Branson have given benefits for the LUC Boy’s Ranch. One church gives the opportunity for folks to give a Christmas gift by giving to the building fund. Many of the clubs and organizations have selected special Christmas projects that consider the needs of those around us. All these things provide ways to give to Jesus
We are tempted to think that we should spend our money on our own family, but we need to teach our family to think of others. Each family needs to choose at least one thing to do to give a gift to Jesus by giving to others. There are wonderful stories of children taking some of their own Christmas gifts and giving them to children in other countries, or even in America, who have less than they have.
Let’s make sure that our children experience the wonderful feeling of giving to others. Let’s discuss with our children how they would like to give the most important gift of all—a gift to Jesus.