“That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.”
Mark 10:45 The Message
Anyone else behind in their Christmas shopping? In your last-minute shopping to exchange gifts, I bet you’re still wanting to get something meaningful, right?
As Christians, I think we all realize that the bottom line, real meaning of Christmas is relationships. Of course honoring God who sent Jesus as the greatest gift exchange to give to humankind! The great love exchange of God is the advent of Jesus from the cradle to the cross to a resurrected life, in exchange for our hearts. Giving away His life for our spiritual freedom to be intimately united with God is the greatest gift we could receive. The sacrifice of God exchanging His Son’s life for our hearts is undeniably (to me) the greatest gift.
So what can we learn from His example? What could gift exchanging look like for us a week before Christmas? In the hurried last-minute busyness of gift shopping, may we consider giving the gifts of kindness, grace, serving, or forgiveness. But it may require sacrifices of humility, laying our pride and ego down or giving of our time and energy.
May the Lord give us wisdom, grace, and strength to obey His voice in areas and relationships He is calling us to give meaningful gifts to. Let’s exchange hurts with healing. Failures with forgiveness. Grieving with grace.
