At Christmas time, our thoughts frequently turn to gifts. "What shall I get my husband?" "What would my eight-year-old grandson like?" And so on.
Gifts are important. Not in the sense that we spend money, big or small, on them, but that we take time to think about the other person and what would show him/her that we care enough to choose something meaningful.
In writing the blog this year, I've been thinking more of what would be a meaningful gift for the Savior. Christ doesn't want material gifts. He doesn't want a cashmere sweater. He doesn't want a favorite cologne. He doesn't want a Valentino purse.
What does He want? He wants my obedience to His word. He wants my broken heart. He wants my contrite spirit. He wants my humility. I don't know about you, but those are the hardest kinds of gifts for me to offer, the most difficult gifts for me to find within my soul.
Send me on a mission to find a "CARS"-themed T-shirt for a grandson, I'm there. Send me out to find my sister's favorite cologne, I'm all over it. But ask me to find obedience and humility and a host of other attributes, and I'm lost.
The irony is that to give Christ the gift He most desires, I must go to Him and ask His help. I must humble myself sufficiently to ask, "Lord, would thou help me to give thee what I want to?"
So, for today, I am grateful for those times when I remember to turn to the Lord for His help in gift-giving.
And He does help, but that's because what he wants is our willingness to give the right gifts.
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