[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Wednesday, December 19 2012

[Paul]

Good evening to my fellow saints of the Most High God residing in North America, and a good Thursday to the rest of you living elsewhere in this world.  I hope that your day is going well or, for us in the western hemisphere, that your day went well and your evening is good.  Mine is good.

Before I begin to post the article for today, I have one question for all of you.  Except for two other people, are there any members here who belong to SAMNET, the System Access Mobile Network? If so, please write me off list as I'd like to have a voice chat with you in the fellowship room on the voice chat area of that program sometime.  Thanks for doing this, especially if you don't let us here your voices on Seasons or iccsite.com.

The author of this article is not given, but he/she wrote it for the American Tract Society.  Entitled "More Than a Token," it is rendered as follows:

How should a Christian respond to the greatest gift?

When we think of Christmas, we think of gifts.  Christmas has become synonymous with giving.

It's really a good way to look at Christmas.  Giving shows care; it demonstrates unselfishness; it pictures commitment.  I give to you because I love you.  You give to me because you care.  Time, effort, money and energy are expended because of loving concern for one another.

That's why I've become a little skeptical about a line you hear this time of year, "It's not the gift; it's the thought that counts." Not exactly.  Without the gift, the thought is just that--a thought.  True concern, real love, and unreserved commitment always find ways to express themselves, most often through giving.  The gift is a tangible expression of something internal.

THE GREATEST GIVER
Consider the greatest giver--God.  He knows all about giving.  And believe it or not, our names appear on God's Christmas list! The Bible says, "For to _us a Child is born, to _us a Son is given" (Isaiah 9:6).  God cared so much and loved us so intensely that He sent His Son to our planet.  He freely gave the Person Who was closest to His heart.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

God has gone the limit.  He gave His best for us.  It didn't matter that we were hostile toward Him.  It didn't matter that we refused to listen when He spoke.  It didn't matter that, time after time, we went off in our own direction, under our own power, to do our own thing.  He still loved and He still gave.  "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

The Bible declares that God's giving doesn't end there; "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).  "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3).  By giving us the best that first Christmas, God communicates that He will give us whatever else is necessary for a godly life.  He won't hide His will.  He won't limit His power.  He won't renege on His promises.  He won't give up on us and throw us in the towel.  He won't leave us on our own.  He won't ask us to do something and then not help us to do it.  He gave and continues to give and to give and to give.  And when He gives, He give us the best.

THE VERY BEST
Several years ago the Hallmark card company initiated an ad campaign using one of the most powerful slogans ever written: "When you care enough to send the very best." That summarizes perfectly what Christmas is all about.  God cared, more than enough, and He sent the Best, the Very Best.  We who believe have been recipients of that giving.

So now we must ask ourselves if we care enough to give Him the very best? Will we give to Him our dreams and aspirations? Will we place at His disposal our time and energy? Will we expose our plans and decisions to His sovereign rule? The present which pleases Him most is the totality of ourselves, the completeness of our lives.  Giving like that is what this season is really all about.

"Christ's love compels us ... that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

Now there's something to think about, whether you meditate on it during the overnight hours here in North America, if you read it before you go to bed, or even during the daytime.  Thanks to the unknown author of this piece for really putting things into perspective for us during this season.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep you safe, individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul