The Best Free Gift Ever

There is sometimes a little letdown when Christmas is over. Family members go home and the house feels somewhat empty. The decorations need to be put away (not nearly as fun as putting them up). There is a possibility that some of the gifts need to be returned - either because they don't work, you can't use them, you already have one just like it or it doesn't fit.

The opposite might also be true. If you have received a gift card or money for a Christmas present, now is the time to be able to choose something you really want or need for free. Redeeming the gift card or spending the money after Christmas often stretches your money because there are many after Christmas sales which are deeply discounted.

Everyone likes something free. The gifts you received didn't cost you anything. You may have gotten something you have been wishing for and because it is something you would not have purchased for yourself, it is a true luxury. Some of my favorite belongings remind me of Christmases past and the thoughtfulness of a loved one.

Regardless of what you received this Christmas or past Christmases there will be a point where you will no longer use it. It will either wear out or you will leave it behind when you die.

The best free gift ever offered and received will never wear out or be left behind when you die. It was the most costly gift ever because it required the Son of God to die on the cross for your sin. Our free gift cost Him everything. His sacrifice enables you to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. 

Just like the gifts you got for Christmas, the only thing you have to do is receive this gift. As He offers it to you and you receive it by faith, you are able to have fellowship now with Him on earth and forever with Him in Heaven. If you have not received this most precious gift, why don't you do so today? "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).*

This post is duplicated on my other blog, http://stretchmoney.wordpress.com as well. After the publication of my book, Money: How to Be Rich Without It and How to Stretch It Using Ten Hints from the Past and the Technology of Today, I started that blog to share hints on how to stretch your money. As I try hard to give advice on how to obtain what you need for free, this post was also appropriate for that blog. Jesus Christ offers the best free gift ever!

Butterflies and Roses in December

James M. Barrie began his rectorial address at St. Andrews University on May 3, 1922 with the following statement: "You have had many rectors here in St. Andrews who will continue in bloom long after the lowly ones such as I am are dead and rotten and forgotten. They are the roses in December; you remember someone said that God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December. But I do not envy the great ones. In my experience - and you may find in the end it is yours also - the people I have cared for most and who have seemed most worth caring for - my December roses have been very simple folk." Barrie considered himself simple folk, but left his mark on the world with his stories, most notably Peter Pan.

Barrie's reference to roses in December carries the implication that roses would not be available to view in December - thus the need for the memory of them. I will remember this year as the December where I did not have to use my memory to enjoy roses - they have been blooming in some areas of the south during December. Not only have I seen roses this month, but I have enjoyed watching the monarch butterflies in my backyard in recent days. Even in Texas where you can alternately use the air conditioner and heater in off seasons, roses have usually lost their bloom and butterflies are long gone by December.

Barrie related his December roses to people - those people who are worth caring for. In my life, I also have fond memories of these December roses. I have friends and family that I seldom see, but hear from periodically through cards, Facebook, phone calls or email. Every time I do, it brings a smile, similar to the smile that comes across my face when I see roses and butterflies in December. Their contributions to my life continues to bloom.

Family, friends, roses and butterflies are among many things I am grateful for. The greatest blessing I have ever received is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ His Son. Fellowship with Him makes me aware of the delightful gifts that He gives as well. So, whether I actually see them or I need to exercise my memory to enjoy them, through His grace I can experience roses in December.

I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys (Song of Solomon 2:1).

The True Spirit of Christmas

Many people the world over look forward to Christmas. Time off from work, time spent with family, looking forward to special gifts and an occasion for parties may be the sole reason for the celebration.

Retail stores put out Christmas decorations earlier each year. They suppose - and they may be right - that makes it easier for customers to get in the Christmas spirit and desire to purchase their products.

Of course, merchandisers profit from the Christmas season. Many of us believe that it has, in fact, become way too commercial. On the other hand, generosity is expressed more freely by more people at this time of year than any other.

The signs of Christmas spirit may include

• making Christmas lists and checking off each present as it is purchased, wrapped, mailed or placed under the tree
• preparing eggnog, special candies, cookies and a variety of other traditional family dishes
• making elaborate preparations for parties, trips to see family, gifts for teachers, neighbors and others
• decorating homes in and out
• attending Christmas musicals and plays
• looking for ways to help others through churches and charities

Part of the traditional Christmas celebration includes classic Christmas stories, which are read and reread to children at this time of year.

In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy old miser who preferred his own company, is visited by three Christmas spirits on Christmas Eve. What the spirits of Christmas past, present and future showed him so affected Scrooge that his life was radically changed. The result of their visits was that he became the exact opposite of what he had been before. "He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city or town in the good old world.... it was said of him ever afterwards that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed that knowledge."

A Christmas Carol is one of the movies that is on my Christmas season watch list, always saved for Christmas Eve. Of course, it is not the original Christmas story, but it does illustrate what happens when the true Spirit of Christmas visits someone. There is a radical change. To truly know how to keep Christmas well, one must be born of the Spirit of the Christ of Christmas.

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5). Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Corinthians 5:17).