"To Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever"

It is an unusual person whose mind does not turn to gifts at this time of year – gifts to be given to and received from family and friends. Some people – maybe most people – find choosing, buying, wrapping, posting gifts are necessary but uninspiring chores … but I enjoy them. I love giving gifts to my family and friends and take pleasure in choosing something appropriate, wrapping it and attaching tags, ribbons, baubles or bows (I even wrap the card you get when you buy ‘Alternative Gifts’!) OK, so I don’t enjoy the post office bit but the rest makes up for that.

No matter whether we spend hours selecting specific gifts for each person or buy the same book/CD/biscuits for everyone on our list we hope what we give will bring pleasure (why would we give otherwise?) How would you feel if the gifts you gave were all pushed to the back of a drawer never to be used? I imagine you would be less than amused, and yet too often that is what we do with the gifts God gives us. You may shy away from using your gift of hospitality because you feel it is less important than other gifts but for the stranger coming into your church, whether at Christmas or any other time, the warm welcome at the door may minister more than the carefully crafted sermon or the fine music.

God’s choice of gifts for his children is deliberate. God is not the ‘one gift fits all’ kind of giver but, perfectly knowing each of us, gives us each gifts appropriate to us and he wants us to use them in his service. This benefits the whole body and brings God glory but that’s not all – he wants us to enjoy the gifts he gives us and we cannot do that without using them to glorify him. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

Of course, at Christmas we think particularly of God the Father’s most special gift to the world in the giving of his only Son, Jesus Christ. He gave the very best that he had so that we can be reconciled to him. What do we do with that most special of gifts? Do we acknowledge him briefly then leave him to one side or do we honour and glorify him by accepting the gift he offers and giving him our best in return?