Gift Giving and a Gift Given

I have a Christmas cookie named after me in our family. I have no clue what its actual name is. Seriously no clue. It was dubbed the “Aaron cookie” when at the age of two I crawled up on the counter in the blink of an eye and ate nearly an entire pan. Truth be told I only ate half the pan as only half of each cookie was dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. The boring ends got placed back in the cookie tin. Who wants the plain, boring, undressed nubs of those cookies anyways?

Aaron cookies are one of the things I look forward to most at Christmas time. Music doesn’t count because I listen to that pretty much year round so these wonderful little delicacies are at the top of my “I can’t wait for Christmas” items. My mother is an exceptional hostess and decorator and our home was always full of Christmas cheer but as I spent much of my childhood in my own universe, these cookies were and remain the things that stand out as exclusively Christmas things.

We all carry traditions into the holidays and seem to add to them each year, further complicating our lives. Some traditions like Aaron cookies are silly (hello tree in the house, watching a burning log and the fire hazard stockings hung with care!) but other traditions carry greater importance.

Gift giving, as much maligned as it is in our consumer driven, materialistic culture, is one of those traditions. However, when done right, gifts carry deep significance.

Don’t worry. I don’t want to add any pressure to your gift giving. Instead I want to help you think more about your gift getting.

The reason we give gifts is partly because the wise men gave them. Remember the weird things (apart from gold) that we all would be disappointed to get? They really only represent part of why we give gifts. The deeper reason behind our gift giving is because Christmas is about a Gift given.

In that manger was the most precious gift ever given. It is actually laughable that gold, frankincense, and myrrh were the best that the rich and wise and benevolent men from the east could manage to give in exchange for the gift they were given in Jesus Christ.

Elsewhere scripture points us to a better picture of worthy gifts given to Jesus: kingdoms, thrones, crowns, nations, and indeed all of creation. But way to go with the stinky perfume, wise men.

In the whole nativity scene there is one person who captures the right sentiment in relation to the gift of Jesus. “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” The right response to the gift given in Jesus is treasuring.

As you give, give joyfully. More important this year, as you receive gifts treasure them for the love and care they show. Most of all take time to ponder in your heart and to treasure that Gift which you will carry with you forever.