When you give it to Him, let Him keep it (or, the best Christmas gift ever)
I’m curled up once more in my favorite winter place. The lamp shines golden at my shoulder, the candles lend their warmth, and the tree bears silent witness. It’s Christmas time, and the Hope of the Earth has come.
In my mug, caramel coffee. I’m bulletproofing before I brave the holiday crowds for stocking stuffers. And that’s when He speaks to me. “If you’re going to give me something, I’d like to keep it.”
No judgment. No censure. No scolding. The quiet invitation falls like healing mist upon my heart. It’s Lord Christ, the babe of Christmas.
“If you’re going to give Me something, I’d like to keep it.”
I have come to believe that the reason God places such a high value on faith is because He knows how very hard faith is for folks of clay. We were born, tethered to this world by our five senses. Through sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, we engage with our world. It’s how we learn about the world and everything in it, and faith demands the opposite.
Faith in God requires the suspension of all five senses, the ones with which He made us. It means that we choose to believe, sight unseen, in a Being that we cannot see with our eyes, hear with our ears, taste on our tongues, smell with our noses, or feel with our two hands. Which (don’t you feel it?) is a big ask, and God knows it.
As the mother of my four sons, it pleases me greatly when they trust me enough to listen (or, when they were little, to obey). To heed my advice. To accept my wisdom and direction, not because they can see or understand it fully, but because they trust my love. That is a wonderful gift to me.
It is just the same with God. How pleased He is when human beings choose to believe Him. It’s a wonderful gift to Him. The ongoing gift that we give is to keep on believing; to keep trusting. To stay on His lap and refuse to leave it, no matter what our five senses are saying.
This morning, I invite you with all of my heart to place your faith in Him. It is safe. You can trust Him.
If you have placed specific concerns into His hands and you’re now tempted to wrench them back, stay your hands. Let Him keep them. It’s a gift, again, to Him.
“If you’re going to give Me something, I’d like to keep it.” He wants you to trust in His love.
This is the gift you can give Jesus at Christmas time and every day of the year. It will bless you both beyond all measure.
From the Curly Head to you, Merry Christmas!