What Do You Want for Christmas?

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS?

“What do you want for Christmas?”
We ask each girl and boy
As if it were their birthday
And they ask for another toy.

And thus we learn to have a want
And not just what we need
Perhaps this is the reason
We struggle so with greed.

For the merchant thinks of his ledger,
And the child some brand new gift.
Parents join the process as they struggle
Until they cause a marital rift.

Spending more than they should
Of their annual labor,
So their child can get what he wants or
Just to keep up with the neighbor.

Then what should we ask each other
As we approach Christmas day?
Not what we can expect to get
But what we would give away.

As a family, we could plan something new,
We could find a special need.
We could shop together for a certain gift
Or perhaps some stranger feed.

What joy we could find
As we change our focus!
When we think of others
And not just think of us.

For Christmas is when God gave His gift
To those who did not love Him,
Wrapped in human flesh to die
For all who are trapped in sin.

He hung His gift upon a tree
Nails and a spear they used
To open up God’s Gift and yet
Still today His Gift is refused.

How would you feel if some precious gift
Was left hanging on your tree
While others just walked away
Taking lesser gifts with glee.

Would you not feel very sad
Or would you not feel rejected,
When the only wrong they have done
Is to leave your gift neglected.

So this Christmas day make sure that
Christ, when all is said and done,
In your busyness of this Christmas,
Make sure He is the central one! -- written by Pastor George VanSandt who was my Pastor growing up, a dear friend of America's KESWICK and a contributor to Freedom Fighter

God's WORD for US: Proverbs 16; Amos 4-6; Revelation 7

Great Quote: The person without self-control is easy prey to the invader. He yields himself to the first assault of his ungoverned passions, offering no resistance...Having no discipline over himself, temptation becomes the occasion of sin, and hurries him on to fearful lengths that he had not contemplated. Charles Bridges