Good morning. As we enter the month of December, many, perhaps most of us, are thinking about the Christmas gifts we will buy for those especially important people in our life.
Women are much better at this than men. Women will buy about 70% of the Christmas gifts purchased. Of the gifts women will give, about 6% will be returned. For men, that percentage is closer to 20%. This may be because women are known to spend substantially more time thinking about which gift may be most appreciated, the proper size and color, etc. Men tend to consider gifts with these criteria: 1. Cost 2. Need 3. Availability/ease of purchase 4. Will the gift be appreciated?
Every day God chooses your gift(s). He chooses the gifts with which you will find joy in serving the Kingdom of God: But it is the same Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, who does all these things. He gives these gifts to each person as He chooses to give. 1 Corinthians 12:11 Each day God grants to each of us all that we need for peace, joy, and victory within that day: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 Each day God gives to us what we truly need, and guides us away from those things that will prove destructive to our spiritual walk with Him: Then Jesus said to them all, “Watch yourselves! Keep from wanting all kinds of things you should not have. A man’s life is not made up of things, even if he has many riches.” Luke 12:15
God is an excellent giver of gifts. God knows what you need, and God knows what you should not have. There are many verses that speak of God’s gifts to us, because He is indeed a loving and generous Father. But I would like to close with 1 John 5:11-13, a passage that tells us about the single greatest gift that God could ever give us: And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Enjoy your gifts today. Celebrate them, use them well, and never forget to say “thank you” to the One who knows exactly what you need, every moment of every day.
Vern