Then Jesus said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”
Luke 12:15
I remember waiting anxiously for the Sears and JC Penney Christmas Catalogs to arrive. When the postal carrier brought them, I would spend hours looking through the pages showing all the wonderful things available to me for Christmas and I began making my list(s).
Then came the words that deflated my list(s) to a couple of line items: "You have a limit of 3 items, and your Dad and I will pick from those three items." My dreams of a room filled with brightly wrapped gifts just for me faded into a scene that my young mind imagined, a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree in a dark room with dust bunnies under it instead of gifts. Or worse, to my mind, a Christmas of pajamas and underwear.
As I grew older, I have watched year after year the push to BUY, BUY, BUY truckloads of presents. And I have been disgusted by the incessant display of greed and excess. I understand more and more what my parents tried to instill in my mind. And I appreciate it more and more!
How many people do you see on Black Friday pushing, shoving and even fighting to get buggies FULL of goodies which will be obsolete within a month after Christmas (when the "New Improved" versions will be advertised)? Is it truly worth it?
When Jesus was born, how was HIS birth celebrated? With a visit from some shepherds! Yes, The Wise Men came, but they came THREE YEARS LATER! Yes, they brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh...but that's the last time we hear of their gifts. Why? Because the TRUE gift of Christmas...is Christ!
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