WE’RE ALL GETTING GYPPED

Three of our daughters have “Christmas” birthdays: Christy is on the 21^st, Jessica on the 22^nd and Autumn on Christmas Day itself. Over the years they have complained, mostly silently, that they have been getting gypped when it comes to receiving birthday presents because they believe they’d have received more had their birthdays been in July. We never thought so, but we were also not the ones who had our birthdays so near Christmas.

However, if we think only those who are in the same boat as our daughters are getting gypped, think about the one whose birthday we celebrate on December 25: Jesus. If it is true that Jesus is the reason for the season, and it is, and if it is also true that we should be preparing to present Jesus with the proper present in celebration of his birth, then I think Jesus has a right to complain about being gypped.

Let’s face it and let’s be honest: when we decide to present someone we love with a birthday present, we think long and hard about just what gift we are going to give and even how much we want to spend on that gift. It is important for us to give what we deem to be a proper gift and so we take as much time as possible to make that happen – all of which is why Jesus is getting gypped.

What’s the proper gift to give to Jesus in celebration of his birthday? Why, ourselves, of course! That is the only gift we can give and the only gift we need to give and the only gift Jesus wants from us. If you are like me, and I hope you are not, more often than not my gift of myself tends to be like a gift I hurriedly grabbed on the way out of store and satisfied myself that it would suffice. It was not chosen or given with a whole lot of thought and, sadly, meaning.

That’s not to say that Jesus wants all of me rather than that he wants more of me than I am willing to give. Our gifts to our daughters never were and still are not toss-ins or throwaways. They always come from the heart, which is why it often takes us so long to decide what to give. The same is true for any gift that is given for any occasion: it has to come from the heart to truly be a gift. If it does not, that person is being gypped.

So how do we make sure that the gift of ourselves to Jesus on Christmas is truly a gift? In the same way our other true gifts are gifts: by taking the time to prepare ourselves for the celebration: taking time to think and pray and give thanks rather than coming to the celebration out of breath and exhausted. Sadly, so often that has been my personal modus operandi. This year, I hope, will be different.

When we gyp someone, we gyp ourselves as well. It is difficult to enter into the joy of the celebration if we don’t take the time to prepare for the celebration. But if we take the time to prepare our hearts and minds, we and the one we honor will be blessed. We know all that because we’ve all been there. Will we, will Jesus be gypped this Christmas?