The Christmas season is here again. My favorite time of year. The snow, the cold, the lights, the music, and……..the presents. Come on you know you like rushing down in the morning. The smell of the fresh coffee, the tree, and all those beautifully wrapped gifts under the tree. I always look and try to guess which one is mine. Of course I do this very indiscriminately. I can’t let on to people that I’m looking.
“It is more blessed to give then it is to receive.” We’ve all heard that before, and especially around Christmas time. It is so true. There is something that goes on deep in your heart when you give to someone else. Someone who has a special need that you can fill, and they don’t have the resources to ever pay you back. There is such a blessing, a warmness in your heart, that comes to you when we do that.
But what about receiving? Christmas giving and receiving? That’s another question. That is the hardest thing to do. Why? What is it that makes it so hard to reach out to a hand that says, I want to give to you, and you don’t owe me anything for it.? Why do we struggle when it comes to receiving? We hear things like, ” I have my pride”, ” I don’t take charity”.
Our economy has put a lot of people, who are good educated people, that are not on drugs or have a drinking, or gambling problem, out on the street. These people have never taken a dime from anyone and they are finding themselves in the soup kitchens, and sleeping in the homeless shelters. Receiving is hard.
There was a story about a lady who fell asleep while she was driving. The car spun off the road, crashed through the guardrail and hung onto the side of the cliff with one tire. Several motorists stopped and tied the rear bumper of the car to a tree so it wouldn’t go over the edge. Every little movement of the car, they could her the girl inside screaming. Finally the fire department came and pulled the car back onto the flat ground, but the one firemen said he could her the girl constantly telling them that she could do it herself. Now that might have been just the shock and trama of the whole scary ordeal that she was in, but isn’t that funny, that in that terrible state, all she could say is, “I can do it myself “. This women was thinking she could do it herself, and didn’t realize that all these people had to work together to save her life.
We always feel that we have to give something back or do something for every gift or good thing that comes our way. Why? What about Christmas charity? Christmas giving? Christmas help? Do you need Christmas help?
I am going to give you four reasons why I think it is so hard for us to do any receiving.
- People have let us down in the past. (hard to trust anymore)
- Ego or Pride. (this is why a man doesn’t ask for directions)
- Emotional Insecurity (I ride the wave of giving to forget my own insecurity)
- Past Incident (we feel unworthy to receive)
Can you imagine getting a Rolex watch for Christmas and reaching into your wallet and asking the person, “how much did you pay for that?’ “You shouldn’t have”. Then you reach into your wallet and say, “here, let me give you something. I know I can’t pay for it all, but let me give you something.” That would totally offend the giver, and be very rude and embarrassing.
These same things prevent us from receiving the greatest gift of all time. The gift of God’s forgivness and a new life.
You see having faith in God is not about doing, it’s about receiving. The difference between Christianity and any other religion is this. In religion, I work a list of all kinds of different things to do for God. He receives those works and I get all the credit. In Christianity, God does the work, He gives to me, I receive, and He gets all the credit. This is the truth about Christmas.
It’s hard for me to receive when I was raised to always believe that I don’t need anybody. I can stand on my own two feet and get the job done all by myself. God should be happy He has me on His team.
But we can’t do it on our own, just like that women who couldn’t keep her car from going over the side of that cliff and plunging to her death, she could not save herself. Sin and a stubborn will have kept me from living the kind of life that I really want to live. The kind of life that God wants me to live, no matter how hard I tried.
What I could not do, God did. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas in Christianity. Receiving the free gift that God paid for on that cross so many years ago. We celebrate the entrance of God into our world at Christmas. He came for one reason. To pay the penalty for your sin and mine. The penalty for sin is death. (Romans 6:23) The gift of God is free. (Ephesians 2:8-9), (Titus 3:4-5)
Now the way is open. I can come to God, receive His gift, and with Him, start to learn to live my life the way He intended it to be. Jesus said, ” I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.”
Now my friend all the obstacles have been removed. There is nothing standing in your way, except a stubborn, disobedient heart, and even that He will begin to heal once He comes into your life. Just ask Him. That’s why He came. Learn to receive. Reach out and take His hand. He has a gift for you.
Revelation 3:20; ” Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him and he with Me.”
Do you hear Him knocking? Do you hear His voice?
