Christmas is approaching very very soon. 15 more days to go for countdown before Christmas started. It is time to give and receive. Well a lot of ppl perceived giving and receiving in term of gifts and treats. It is good and fun to have sucha activities but I felt that we do not do enough giving and receiving.
Let me started by saying that Jesus is the main reason why we celebrate Christmas. It was because of His birth that we actually celebrate Christmas. Santa for one thing, is just someone called Saint Nicholas who were just a mere human, giving joy to the kids. I do not know the real history of his but what I do know in term of history is that his name became much more highly recognised when it came to Christmas time whereas a little baby boy by the name of Jesus Christ was born in this manger and a lot of time we actually totally forgotten bout Him. Honestly we all do not know Jesus' exact birthday. It is just a date the Roman fix as a rememberance of Jesus.
But let us forget all those for a moment. Whether the date is His actual birth date or just a coincidence (borrowed from ancient gods) and whether Santa is highly recognised during Christmas time, let us always remember this. That Jesus' birth gives us hope. As the matter of fact, it was during the Jewish time in Isreal that His birth gives hope to the world. Jewish that time were living in ignorant (if I could say that) and their heart were hardened. They were rather proud of themselves. And guess what they are the chosen ppl of God. Imagine all the spiritual benefits they have had. And they took it for granted. When they took it for granted they actually make God angry. But because of His love towards Isreal and promises that He gave to some of the leader of Israel such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacobs, Moses and even King David himself, He sent His only Son to die for them and for us. For me, that is the ultimate sacrifices that God gave to us. And sacrifice means giving. And sacrifice also means giving in full although not yet in fullest. I mean we can't give to God in fullest. For one thing, God have everything. He did not need our givings. But I believe that He want us to give. And when we give, we do not just with joy, we also give in secret. This is an interesting givings that I have learnt. In Matthew 6:1-2 (NIV) it says like this:
1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. My understanding of this passage is that we should give with clear intention that whatever we give we should not lift ourselves up, in terms of money, cares and loves. We give in humbleness.. It is like whatever we gave we would not get it back anymore. No benefits for us. But then it is not true cause when we give in this manner, we give all our belongings (which is not actually our own belonging but God's) back to Him and it glorifies Him. A lot of time, when our friends give us gifts, we will repay it back to them. But I do believe in this different theory. That is whatever things that we receive from others, we give it back to another needed person. An example would be,
A drives B around a lot of time since B do not own any car. So when B owns a car, if he still remembers how A had helped him, instead of paying back to A, he drives C and D around. So when C and D had seen what B do, they will learn and follow. There is no point we give back to the person who had helped us cause we are just giving back the favour of what the person had done for us previously. I felt that it defeated the purpose of God. (Maybe I am wrong and maybe I am not) I mean come to think of it, Christ died for us so that we shall receive hope from Him. So when we receive this hope and be secured bout it, instead of giving it back to God, we should give this hope that we receive to the person next to us. I mean it might be one or two or even three of them. In fact it might be hundreds but whatever it is, it is God's hope and love that is passed down. And not our own baton, but God's. And seeing someone grown in the Lord, perhaps stronger and marvellous than us is considered a joy. In a sense we are God's pioneer in planting seeds in other ppl's life and that is precious. And even after all the things we had done for God, even if I were to go back to heaven to meet God, (if) God is still not happy bout it at least I know I had done my part to the full for Him. That's my main intention. To seek and love Him with all my heart, soul and spirit. And it had happened with the birth of a baby boy who is called Christ. A willingness to sacrifice for us all, the mortals. He gives us hope, joy & peace. =)
So let us continue to give with different understanding that we are not just giving gifts but rather cares, concerns and love because our God is LOVE, amen? =) Therefore let us see Christmas as a different celebration instead of the routine secular type of celebration.. For me Christmas is not just a time to give and receive gift, not just a time of sharing but I believe it a time where we actually really turn to somebody and tell that somebody God loves them and we do care and love for them.. =) God bless...
