Joyous Christmas

Act 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Christmas time is a time of giving as well as receiving. Which is the better of the two? Giving or Receiving? Well we all like to receive but where do we find the most joy. We may receive a nice gift but sooner or later that gift will lose its shine and become useless. Now when we give from a true heart we will never forget the joy or the smile on the face of the one that received. Let me explain; there was a young man that received a nice gift from his brother one Christmas. It was a nice car and the young man was proud to have received such a gift. One night after work as the young man approached his car he saw a poor and raggedly clothed youngster walking around his car admiring it. The young boy asked “is this your car?” The answer came back “Yes, my brother gave it to me as a Christmas gift.” “You mean this car didn’t cost you anything?” “Yes, it was a gift.”  The young boy then said, “You know what I wish? I wish that I could give my brother a car like this for Christmas.” “Would you like for me to take you for a ride in it?” “Oh yes, I’d love that.” So off they went for a short ride around town after a while the young boy said “would you mind driving in front of my house?” The young boy said, “There’s my house would you stop for a moment.” The young boy opened the door, ran to his front door went in and then soon came back. He was not alone, when he came back he was carrying his crippled brother. He sat him down and pointed to the car and said “There she is Buddy, just like I told you. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. Someday I’m gonna give you one just like it. Then you can ride me around and see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.” The older man got out of his car, picked up that crippled young boy and put him in the front seat. He told his brother to get in the back seat as the three of them began a memorable joyous Christmas ride. The joy is not in receiving but giving, for this is the way to real JOY. J is for Jesus first; O is for others and Y is last for yourself. Like I said the shine will one day be outdated by something new but the joy of giving will never dull. It’s like Jesus said it’s more blessed to GIVE than to receive.