Luke 11:13
So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
Birthdays come along at all times throughout the year. Some of us as we get older pay less and less heed to them while others enjoy the whole process of the giving and receiving of presents. As adults, it can be a real challenge coming up with ideas for presents for those close to us that might be innovative/imaginative as well as being affordable and useful. I was told recently that a couple known to a friend of mine had actually bought each other funeral plans last Christmas. Other ideas might be a meal at a special restaurant or a surprise holiday.
Children of course are the main focus for gifts from their parents, siblings and other relatives, it is only the nature of the presents that have changed over the years. With children, there tends to be fads with whatever is trending at a particular time or even constants where those within the same age group will want the same types of things. Boys will want football strips and mobile phones, girls might want jewellery, make up, clothes and mobile phones.
The majority of gifts we give to our children are temporary. The football strips will become out of date, clothes will be grown out of, make up will get used up and for mobile phones, newer models with more and better features are continually becoming available.
Affordability is also a consideration. I remember one Christmas getting a Scalextric set but my pal got one with more track and better cars. Another time I got a Subbuteo set but another pal got the set with the pitch and the floodlights. On both these occasions, I still loved and appreciated the presents I had been given. No matter what you have or what you receive whether during childhood or during adulthood, there is always someone who will have a little or a lot more and another who will have a little or a lot less. It is just part of this life.
Gifts can be something that’s been requested or hoped for or sometimes they can be a surprise. A good many years ago, the famous rock group, ‘The Who’ were coming to Green’s Playhouse and the demand for tickets would grossly exceed the availability so I had moaned about it not being worthwhile even trying for a ticket. Some Saturdays later, my father gave me an envelope which contained two tickets for the concert. He had went to the bother of trying for a ticket which I hadn’t and I couldn’t have been more surprised and delighted.
In this life, gifts are not always something we really need. Our parents and friends give children and adults gifts to make them feel better, at least for a little while. Sometimes we purchase gifts for others because we feel we have to rather than because we want to. I have also received gifts that looked better in the tv adverts than they did when the box containing them was opened and this can be more than a bit disappointing.
In our reading today, these are the words of our Lord. He knows what lies ahead for those who believe in Him. We have already seen that the gifts we give and receive here and now are of a temporary nature. The joy we have due to these presents is mostly short-lived. Jesus is telling us to believe in Him and ask that the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts, and this will eclipse any present we could ever dream of. It will not be short-lived, it will be for eternity and it will not perish or go out-of-date and it will not be disappointing.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, open our hearts and minds to the words we hear and read from your Holy Book. Help us come to know you better and make the decisions we make each day in a way we know would be acceptable to you. Help us learn that the gifts you promise for us are in another place and that we will receive them some day not because of what we have done for you. All the good things we have or are promised in this life or the next is wholly down to what you achieved at Calvary and in the days following. May all praise and glory be yours this day and forever. Amen
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