All I Want for Christmas...

What do you want for Christmas this year? Have you been asked that a lot in the last few weeks? Have you asked your loved ones this question?

A few weeks ago at church, my pastor posed this question instead: 

What does God want from me? 

That got my mind racing with more questions:

What can I give this Christmas?
Whom can I help this Christmas?
What can I sacrifice this Christmas?

Of course it’s not enough to simply ask these questions. These questions BEG to be answered. 

What can I give this Christmas? 

• More time and attention to my kids
• My hours and help at my husband’s office
• Treats to the children at a local women’s shelter (the boys and I will be putting these together and delivering them next week)

Whom can I help this Christmas? 

• A working friend needs help with care for her son, so he’ll be spending a couple of days with us over Christmas break
• My mother-in-law is hosting a lunch for 30 women at her house this week, so I will help with greeting, taking photos, and washing dishes

What can I sacrifice this Christmas? 

• This one is personal, but I will look for specific ways to be selfless, secondary, and sacrificial in the weeks to come

Christmas is not about me or you or our families or the needy. Christmas is about our mighty Lord leaving His throne to enter our sinful world as a helpless baby with one purpose: death.

What did He give this Christmas? His life in place of our sin.
Whom did He help this Christmas? All who believe.
What did He sacrifice this Christmas? His glory, His crown, His body.

Still care about that new iPhone?

OK, I’m getting off my shoebox now.