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Day 21, Last minute gifts

I ventured out yesterday to pick up some groceries on my way to my daughters house to pick them up.  I don't especially like shopping on the weekends, and that was reinforced almost immediately.   It was only 9:00 a.m. when I pulled into the parking lot and it was already almost full.  Christmas eve is tomorrow and clearly folks were doing some last minute shopping ahead of the weekend.

Last minute shopping - not my cup of tea.  The weekend of Christmas is a time for families to gather.  Traffic fills the streets and highways as people make their way, sometimes for hundreds of miles.  Airports fill up with planes full of holiday travelers.  So do buses and trains, and especially the freeways.
Yet there are those who save their shopping for the last minute...why?  Who knows the multitude of reasons:  too busy, don't know what to buy, looking for the closeout bargains...there are a number of different reasons.

Gifts are personal - or at least they should be.  They are also forgettable...sad to say.  Do you remember what you received last year for Christmas?  Some do, especially when the gift was special.  Most don't.  Giving gifts is - for some - an unenjoyable experience.  They feel the sense of duty, obligation, and the pressure of getting the gift right.  Last minute gifts will not help that feeling go away.

Here's something to meditate on on this Saturday before Christmas.  God's gift of his son was not a last minute gift, but came at the moment of time we most needed it.
The apostle Paul said it this way:

2 Corinthians 9:15
15  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 

 Luke wrote it in a simple way also as he described the angel's announcement to the shepherds.  Yet what I love about his description is how the present to us comes wrapped.

Luke 2:11-12
11  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
12  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 

 Last minute gifts?  We have been given the greatest gift already.

"What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would being him a lamb;
If I were a wise man, I would do my part; 
Yet what can I give him?
I will give him my heart.

To all of you last minute shoppers today, be blessed; be safe; and rest in the gift of God first and foremost of all.  To the rest of us...relax, and enjoy the day before Christmas Eve.

Peace


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