FRUITCAKE

A poll was taken recently asking what would be the worst

Christmas gift you could possibly receive.

31% said fruitcake. It ranked higher than ‘NO gift’ -- most people would rather receive nothing than receive fruitcake.

30% said if they got a fruitcake - they’d hide it in the closet.

25% said they’d return it.

20% said they’d give it away to someone else. Which means, if you get a fruitcake for Christmas this year, odds are 1:5 that it was given to the gifter by somebody else, who then re-gifted it to you.

But when we receive a gift that comes from someone’s heart, something happens in our heart. That’s what God is about -- giving something to us that is so great that something happens in our hearts.

If we did a survey and asked: “What are your favorite qualities about God?,” people would say things like ... He’s loving - kind - forgiving - patient - merciful - grace-giving - powerful - sovereign ... and all that is true - but a quality so often overlooked about God is that He is also generous. He is all about giving. It pleases the heart of God to give. We struggle with generosity, but God doesn’t.

Acts 20:35 - 'It is better to give than to receive.' You get more pleasure when you give than when you get. It's just true.

Over the years, we loved watching our kids’ faces light up when they started unwrapping gifts around the tree. That certain look has meant the world to Joelene and me and you begin to understand a verse like that - how much joy you get from giving -- and not just to your children.

On certain years we have done something extra at our house at Christmas. We’ve wrapped all the gifts and then we’ve hidden the best and last gift somewhere else in the house. Then at the end we go: “Well, I guess that’s it. Oh, wait! I think there’s one more.” Then we go to the garage or the basement - wherever we’ve stored it --- it’s been a big dollhouse or a Nintendo ---- or when they got older, it was a nice camera or an ipod. And we’d get our camera ready so we wouldn’t miss the reaction.

I believe God gets the same satisfaction when we receive His gift of Jesus. It puts a smile on His face when we finally come to the realization that we need Jesus ... and God snaps the picture of us at just the moment. That brings God the most enormous pleasure.

We forget that the baby Jesus was born to die - so Jesus comes near the end of His life and says in John 10:18 - ‘No one can take My life from Me. I’m going to GIVE it ... willingly.’ He’s all about giving.

So when we think about God offering us a gift at Christmas, the bottom line is that He doesn’t just offer us a gift; it’s bigger than that. He offers us an unbelievable gift - and indescribable gift - a gift too wonderful for words.

And when we think about the gift God gave us in Jesus, it should elicit the most amazing, thankful response from us possible. But sometimes I think we become de-sensitized to the story of Jesus. ‘Yeah - it’s Christmas time again. Jesus came as a baby in a manger, right. We heard that last December, didn't we?‘ And when we come to church this month, we know we’re probably going to hear it again ... and probably this time next year, too - and the one after that - and the one after that. And we act like we’re getting fruitcake.

But the fact that God sent His Son, Jesus, to the world as a baby with skin on to ultimately die on a cross for our sins is the most wonderful news we will ever hear or experience.

And be blessed.