After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating upon them.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, just as they had been told.  Luke 2:17-20  HCSB

The other day I wished someone a Merry Christmas and her response was, “you do all this planning for months and months and it is over in a few hours.”  I smiled when she said this because that is exactly how I used to feel after Christmas.  I used to feel let down.  I used to feel like, “Wow, all this work and planning and spending and gathering together and it’s all over in a days time”.   But this is a choice we make.  If we keep Christ in our hearts. then we celebrate the gift all year long.  This is not to say that Christmas is just another day for us, but it is to say that the celebration is continual.

So today, I want you to think about what you will do with it.  My nephew joked that they would have to add on to their house to accommodate all the presents that their children had gotten.  Often times we get gifts that we love and we wonder where we can put them.  Sometimes we get gifts that we don’t love as much and wonder the same thing.  But this morning, I want you to think about what you will do with the gift that God gave.  Will you be like the shepherds?  You see the shepherds were just minding their business keeping guard over their sheep at night and all of a sudden, this angel appeared and told them that Jesus Christ had been born nearby.  The angel explained to them that this baby lying in a manger was the Messiah who had come to save the world.  Now they had a choice here.  They could have said, “great news but we are busy tending our sheep and can’t leave”.  They could have said that they would deal with it later.  But they didn’t, they decided right away to go and find the baby.  So they left and went into the tiny town of Bethlehem and found the baby just as the angels had said, lying in a manger wrapped in cloths. Once they saw this, they had yet another choice.  They could have chosen to not believe what they saw.  They could have chosen to go back to their sheep and not say anything thinking that no one would believe them anyway.  But they chose to spread the good news.  They chose to go out and tell others.

So I ask you, will your Christmas day end as soon as the clock strikes midnight on December 25th, or will you choose to go forth and spread the good news.  Will you choose to continue your gift giving by sharing God’s love with others?  Will you share the gift of salvation with those who have not yet chosen it?  Will you share the wonderful news that Christ is alive and well and wanting desperately to have a relationship with each of us?

Christmas day, I went to 3 family gatherings.  I sat in amazement at the mess and the carnage left after the gifts were open.  The floor covered with wrapping paper, the kids having so many new toys and gifts that they weren’t sure what to open or play with first.  That’s sometimes how the world is for us.  We often times have so many things coming at us at one time that we are unsure what to do with it all and it can be overwhelming.

So this morning if you are sitting looking at a stack of gifts wondering what you will do with it all, I ask you to first consider this.  What will you do with the biggest and best gift of all.  You see, like the shepherds we have been given this awesome gift.  We have been given the gift of salvation.  It is offered to each and everyone of us regardless of our income.  No matter your social status, God offers this gift to you.  So what will you do with it?  Will you tuck it away in a closet and forget about it?  Will you accept it with the good and the bad that comes with it?  Will you take up your cross?  Will you choose to live under God’s protection?  There is no better time than the present to make this decision.  So I pray that you will draw near to God today.  I pray that you will keep the spirit of Christmas in your heart and ponder these things daily as Mary did.  Most importantly, I pray that you will do as the shepherds did.  I pray that you will seek and find this wonderful Gift.  I pray that you will accept it and tell everyone you know about it.

Have a great day!