Have you ever received a gift you didn't like?

It's the season of thanksgiving and so we have a lot of things to reflect on and be thankful for. Christmas is also around the corner and so a lot of activity as people run around to get gifts for loved ones. It's a time for the giving and receiving of gifts. Thanksgiving, we are thankful for all that God has done throughout the year and even in our whole lives. 

Where I am from, we do not have the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas we treat it more like Thanksgiving is here. It is a time to gather and see family, extended family and so on and eat and be thankful for the ability to gather like that with relatives driving from all over the country. Christmas is not as commercial as it is here. For us it has the Thanksgiving spirit to it which I miss.

Now given that I am here in the US, I have been slowly acclimatizing to the culture, though not without resistance. I do not particularly like the fact that it seems to be more about Santa Claus, who is not real versus the Son of God, Jesus Christ who it is supposed to be about. We push the real out of the picture for the unreal. There are a lot who get into some serious debt because of the Christmas season because it has become more cultural or traditional to give gifts and...to expect to receive gifts at this time of the year. It can be really stressful because you don't want to forget anyone or...to be forgotten.

I look at past Christmases and I remember a few gifts I did not particularly like. It might not even be Christmas but it can be any occasion like a birthday and I know there are some of you if not most, who have received a gift they were not particularly fond of. Maybe you had so much anticipation when you opened the present but it was all blown to bits once you saw the gift. Maybe it came in a big package but was a little thing and one you did not like at that.

It got me thinking about things though. Some gifts are given out of formality because it would be the right thing to do in the situation but not so much about the gift itself and much less about the person receiving it. This time of the year, it becomes a chore to give gifts, and though many partake in this activity, I doubt if much of it is done out of a true giving heart. I am not exempt from this. I have given gifts out of formality just for the sake of doing it because of "peer" pressure. 

So why then should i be disappointed if I receive something I do not particularly like when I myself give others gifts they might not like? What gives me the licence to be disappointed when I myself disappoint others with my gifts? It's one thing to do your very best with every single gift you give away but you and I know that is not true. Some gifts are better than others and the rest are given out of formality, because it would be improper not to give any gift. I don't put as much effort in giving of gifts compared to the anticipation in the receiving of gifts, but we are told:

[35] It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20;35

Now Christmas has become more about receiving gifts and giving of gifts, and about Santa Claus instead of Christ who is supposed to be the center piece, the cornerstone of the whole holiday. In the giving of gifts we are stressed out because of pressure to have to do it, in the receiving of gifts we are disappointed when we receive gifts that might not necessarily like. More time is spent on decorating the tree with Santa and his dear deer, and presents and so forth and Christ is swept under the rug so to speak. 

And yet what did Christ do for us? He gave himself a perfect gift for us out of a pure heart so that we could be saved. He gave us the best gift imaginable and it is unconditional. We give expecting to receive but He gave Himself for us not expecting anything in return from us but to believe on His blood for the remission of sins and be saved. We give "good" gifts to those who are good to us but we are told to:

[42] Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
[43] Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
[44] But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
[45] That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
[46] For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
[47] And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Matthew 5:42-47.

Christ gave us the best gift when we were yet His enemies as is written;

[20] And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

[21] And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled Colossians 1:20, 21.

[8] But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
[9] Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
[10] For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:8-10.

All we have to do is believe and that's how we accept the gift as is written;

[16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:16, 17.

We don't owe Him a gift in return or some great thing because what can we do to please God with a man made gift or through our own efforts? 

[11] To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. Isaiah 1:11.

You don't have to do some great righteous works in return for the gift of His life as is written;

[5] Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Titus 3:5.

All you have to do is to believe and that pleases Him as is written;

[6] But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6.

By faith or believing in Him is how we give back to Him because by faith we are saved. He gave Himself for us that we might be saved and so by believing in Him and that He died for our sins, we are saved and that is our gift to Him. That is the only gift that can please Him but even when we choose Him by believing in Him, it is not out of necessity. He does not force us to choose Him. He gave Himself for us out of love and our gift to Him is a choice not of necessity. Our gift to Him is for our benefit because we are saved in the process so we win either way. We get the gift of Christ's blood, God Himself in the flesh and our gift to Him is us believing in Him that we can get life. He gave His life for us that we may have life, if we believe on His blood and confess our sins. Though we are all sinners and far from perfect, by believing we allow Him to work in us so that we can be presentable to Him when He returns, a perfect gift to Him. So by believing in Him we are not only accepting Him as our Saviour, the Perfect gift from God but we are also giving Him the gift of our lives and if we hold on in faith, He even perfects us that He accepts us a perfect gift unto Himself as is written;

[25] Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
[26] That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
[27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25-27.

Just something to think about. Hopefully during this season of thanksgiving, giving and receiving of gifts we are thankful of the fact that Christ gave Himself for our sins to reconcile us to God and to give us a chance again to live eternally with Him.  That we think of the gift in the form of His sacrifice for us when we did not know or appreciate it. That our gift to Him is believing in Him and letting Him transform our lives and our reconciliation to Him.