Jesus, What Do YOU Want for Christmas?

girl extending gift

What in the world am I going to get my husband for Christmas? I have no idea what to get my mother-in-law—she has everything! I never know what to get my child’s teacher! Anxiety, stress, wallet pains.

It’s that time of year where we search for the perfect gift for our loved ones. Last week, I gave you my silly gift giving guidelines (I hope I made you laugh). But all kidding aside–what do we give the King of kings?

Jesus, what do You want for Christmas?

I’ve been wrestling with this question the last few weeks. What do you give Someone who has everything—who made everything? He who created the magnificent heavens down to the tiniest flower—doesn’t need anything!

Yet He wants me–all of me! And all of you!

What does that actually look like in my life, in your life? The greatest commandment says:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mk 12:30, emphasis added)

We humans have many facets to our being—soul, spirit, heart, conscience, mind, flesh, and will. I like the way theologian, C. Ryrie, puts it:

“Man is like a diamond with its many facets. Those facets are not separate entities, yet they reflect various aspects of the whole.  They may serve similar or overlapping functions, yet they are distinguishable.  They are not parts; they are aspects, facets, faces of the whole.”*

To help us determine what the Lord Jesus wants from us for Christmas, let’s ask Him…

“Is there any part of me that I haven’t fully given over?”

BodyIs there any physical part of my body that I haven’t surrendered?

  • Could I eat healthier?
  • Could I exercise more consistently?
  • Am I getting enough sleep?
  • Is there an unhealthy habit that I need to stop?

Not just so I could feel better, but to have more motivation and energy to serve God.

Mind

  • Am I filling my mind with good things so I can be and act more like Jesus? Or am I dwelling on the negative? Consumed with worry, discontentment, or despair.
  • Am I fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of my faith (Heb 12:2), or on what I don’t have, don’t want, or don’t like?
  • Am I reading, studying, and meditating on His Word; am I delighting in it? Or am I just superficially reading it to cross it off my to do list?

Emotions

  • Have I given Him control over my emotions? Or am I allowing them to cause me to sin?
  • Am I letting fear override witnessing to the lost?
  • Am I letting my impatient tendencies move me ahead of God’s plan?
  • Are doubt and perfectionism preventing a step of faith?

Will

  • Am I surrendering my desires to God’s?
  • Have I become an Indian giver; reneging on my commitments to Him this year?
  • Am I choosing His way instead of my way in the small as well as the big decisions?

So my friends, I don’t know what Jesus wants you to give Him for Christmas. I don’t know yet either. But let’s not get anxious or stressed out over it; nor be concerned with the cost (although that’s a tough one). Instead, let’s ask Him with sincerity, an open heart, and repeatedly. He WILL tell us. He always answers prayers like that!

Oh, and let’s not forget to ask Him for help in actually giving it to Him—we’re going to need that as well!

 “So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Lk 11:9 AMP)

 

*Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986, 1999), 225.
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