Something that Costs Me Nothing

A few weeks ago, I posted a reprint of last year's Christmas gift-giving thoughts and ideas.  The idea of giving to those in need instead of giving to my family and friends who already have everything they need was transformative for me, and both last year and this year I've enjoyed finding charities and families in need to give to in celebration of Jesus' birth.  It's hard to believe that the thought of giving gifts to Jesus for His birthday took almost 30 years to occur to me!  It seems so obvious now!  When it's my brother's birthday, I don't give gifts to my friends.  I give a gift to him. 

I'm not trying to say people shouldn't exchange gifts at Christmas.  God told us that "it is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).  Christmas is a great holiday for thinking about others and trying to show them how much they mean to you.  But I think my focus needs to be on giving to Jesus. 

But last night I started to think through the logic of this in my head.  If Christmas is Jesus' birthday and I tell my friends and family to give their gift to Him instead of me (when I shouldn't really be receiving anything at all, since it's not my birthday), am I still giving something to Jesus?  Isn't it really my friends and family who are giving to Jesus? 

All of this thinking was brought on by a verse that came to mind a day or two ago.  The context of this verse is this: God told David to build an altar to Him on a specific piece of property.  When David approached the owner about buying the property and the owner saw that it was the king who wanted to buy it, he told the David to take the property as a gift, along with animals to sacrifice and wood to build the fire.  But David's response was this: "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing" (2 Sam. 24:24).  Hmm...Redirecting my Christmas presents to the One whose birthday it is costs me nothing.  Am I okay with only giving Jesus something that cost me nothing?  I don't think so.  I want to give Him a lavish gift like He has given me!  Thankfully, Jesus isn't hard to shop for.  I am excited about what I can do for Jesus for His birthday; something that is a true gift to Him from me.  Happy birthday, Jesus!