It’s said that the best gifts are not under the Christmas tree. As I get older, the more I feel this to be true.
Here we are a week away from Christmas – I was checking my gift list and starting to feel a bit stressed as I realized I’d overlooked a couple. As I anxiously searched Amazon for the “perfect” last-minute gifts, my eldest daughter text me to let me know about a gift she wanted. She’d given out her last homeless bag over the weekend and asked if I could make her a few more for Christmas.
And just like that, I forgot about my stress and began assembling homeless bags as part of my daughter’s Christmas presents. These bags are something I started years ago as a way to tangibly teach my children how they might reach out to those less fortunate. The bags include water, snacks, socks and a tract about the hope Jesus gives. While they weren’t initially very enthusiastic about giving out the bags, once they handed out their first one, they better understood the joy of giving.
Anne Graham Lotz shares a message entitled For the King’s Birthday . . . A Gift of Service in which she describes a secret which helps her escape not from the holiday hassle but helps her escape in the holiday hassle:
Every year I make a Christmas gift list. Do you do make one too? This is my suggestion. When you make your list, would you put the King, Jesus, at the top? Have you ever thought about what you might give the King for His birthday? What do you give somebody who has everything? Would you take the next few days to pray and ask the King, “…what would You like for Your birthday?”
Since we are already in December, I am going to give you a gift suggestion. Something that I know the King wants for His birthday… a service of the soul. It is service that you render to the King out of your love for Him as an expression of your worship to Him. It’s service He taught by His own example.
In her message, Anne shares ideas on what a “service of the soul” might be:
- An action
- An area of service
- An attitude
- A habit
- A relationship
- Something He wants me to say
- Something He wants me to do
- A place He wants me to go
I love this message . . . of course, it’s so timely as we celebrate our Savior’s birth, but it also reminds me that a “service of the soul” is a gift we should not reserve for our King only at Christmas, but daily!
