Leading the Season

Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift--articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

-- 1 Kings 10:25

Marketers call it leading the season or Christmas creep. It's the rollout of holiday-themed merchandise and decorations prior to the traditional start of the holiday-shopping season. This year, some stores began displaying festive tinsel, blinking lights and artificial evergreens well before Halloween.

Black Friday--that hectic day after Thanksgiving--is considered the official kickoff to Christmas. And retailers and websites are already prompting us to make our gift purchases. Just count the repetitious holiday-themed commercials on TV. Meanwhile, the Christmas catalogs are piling up on the coffee table. Odds are that your email in-box is also struggling with the Yuletide onslaught.

But there is some holiday rest for the weary. If you don't feel like finding a parking spot at the mall, that perfect gift for that someone special is just a tap or two away with your smartphone, tablet or laptop. Money, however, is particularly tight these days for many of us, so every purchase must count. We need gifts that will make an impression. We need value. And above all, we want bang-for-the-buck.

There's nothing wrong with trying to stretch a dollar. But let's consider that a gift's real value has much more to do with its meaning and the person behind it than with a Low Everyday Walmart Price.

That's certainly the case if we're to believe what God's telling us through the Bible. And what does he say about the characteristics of a super gift? And more to the point, what should we know about being a super gift-giver? The example of Jesus' life and ministry holds the answers.

First, we need to give with an attitude of generosity: one that exceeds what we expect to receive. Our gifts should also affirm the value of the recipient. But most importantly, our gifts--whatever they might be--should be given out of love. When it comes to gift-giving, it really IS the thought that counts. (Your mother was right all along!)

With Thanksgiving now just a memory, what are your thoughts, attitudes and motivations this holiday season? And have you thought about sharing just a few of your blessings with someone you may have never met--perhaps someone living around the world or maybe just around the corner?

The marketers have a point: Christmas really is closer than we think. And the clock is ticking. But before we head to the mall, log onto Amazon.com or tune into the Home Shopping Network, let's follow the example of Jesus, who was and is the ultimate gift-giver. His greatest present is the salvation he bought for us through his death on the cross. It's an incredibly expensive gift that we can never repay. But it's one given freely out of love. And it's available to anyone who's willing to open the package in faith.