We all know very well what time of year it is — and these past few weeks, many of us have vacillated between the temptation to go overboard on gifts and decorations and all things Christmas cheer and the decision to just call it quits on the heaps of Christmassy activities because it doesn’t quite feel like the Reason for the Season is behind all of it.
But before you decide to throw the Baby Jesus out with the bathwater, I’d like to make a few suggestions for actually putting a little more Christ in your Christmas — suggestions that don’t involve picketing the Home Depot to say “Christmas Tree” instead of “Holiday Tree” next year.
The way I explained it to my 4-year-old, who is very excited about getting presents this year, is that it’s Jesus’ birthday — so shouldn’t we give Him presents? His first suggestion was that we give baby Jesus some pacifiers. This created an opportunity to talk about what Jesus might want for His birthday.
Based on what we can read about Jesus’ life while He was on the earth, the number one gift I think Jesus would ask for is that we not only love Him by doing what He says, but that we also love and take care of each other.
Jesus once said that the things we do for the ‘least of these’ we do for Him. Giving the hungry something to eat or the thirsty something to drink … giving the needy something to wear or a place to stay — He said giving to them was like giving to Him.
So this Christmas morning, my 4-year-old and I chose a gift to give to a less fortunate family out of the World Vision catalogue. My hope is that we’ll be able to explain in a meaningful way why this, like the other ways we give at Christmastime, is a gift for Jesus.
Be encouraged that donating to the bell-ringers from the Salvation Army or taking a name off an Angel Tree are ways of giving to the least of these, and therefore giving to Jesus.
Even if it’s December 26th, and you don’t feel like you gave Jesus much for His birthday, there’s still time to visit the website for World Vision (worldvision.org) and donate a goat or some ducks to a family in need. Or you could stop by Compassion.com and choose a child to sponsor all year long. You can sign up to lend a helping hand at the local Food Bank, Eagle’s Wings or perhaps slip a Food Lion gift card into the mailbox of a family around the corner who needs it.
The wonderful thing about celebrating the birth of the baby that turned the world upside down is that it’s a great idea to celebrate it all year long.
Washington native Caroline Collie writes her heart out at carolinecollie.com and is the smaller half of the team behind local business Quiver Tree Photography. She’s a mother of three with a slight addiction to chocolate-covered pretzels and q-tips.