Small Christmas. Small Acts of Obedience.

In June of 2006 one of the richest men in the world gave away His money.  Most of it. Forty billion dollars worth of it. Thats a lot of money. In the lineage of good deeds: this one has to place pretty high up the list. Take a step back and gander at it. The gift is HUGE. It’s an idea most of can’t even conceive of – to give away billions of dollars. We are attracted to the HUGE details in life, but I’m convinced God may very well be in the small details in profound ways that we miss if we’re only focused on the HUGE. The story of Christmas is a story of a BIG God using small acts of obedience to make a huge impact in the story of redemption He is writing in our world..  With Christmas we see that God is writing His story, and He invites us in to play a role.  When we respond with small, simple obedience, God blesses the small and increases it. The gifts of the wise men were not “small” in nature; gold, frankincense, and myrrh were costly items in their day. Notice this from the scriptures: “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11) The opened their treasures, they offered him gifts Two things happened in that moment with the wise men: when they encountered Jesus they worshiped Him and then they gave the baby Jesus gifts.  Both actions were responses to Jesus. The first reaction, worship, was a choice to give Jesus their affections and attention.  The second reaction, giving gifts, was a choice to give to Jesus out of their treasure. They gave what they had! Christmas has become more and more about trying to give what we don’t have. Parents who don’t “have enough time” to spend with their kids instead replace their time with extravagant gifts.  As our pastor pointed out this past week: “We substitute for Jesus, and create a substitute Christmas.” Obedience doesn’t wait for BIG.  Obedience doesn’t need any more resource than what you have.  If you’re supposed to do it, you can do it. Small acts of obedience happen when we’re faithful with what we have. So, where is God calling you to be more faithful this Christmas?

#christmas #Giving #Obedience #smallchristmas