SHINY THINGS

A few weeks ago, my daughter's friend stayed overnight with us. Enjoying each other's goofiness, they walked around the house, pointing out anything with a hint of glimmer. "Oooh, shiny!"

Christmastime can bring out this tendency. Flip through a catalog or walk into any retail center. Beautiful, shiny things catch our attention. It's fun, and that's okay. As long as we don't stop there.

NEW & SHINY

A few years ago, I heard a Christmas wish being granted on our local Christian radio station. A mother and father with several children drove an old car, seating a limited number of passengers. It served as their only vehicle. Each Sunday, they made two trips back and forth to church to get everyone there. Then, they made two trips back and forth to get everyone home. After many years, the car had become unreliable. And it no longer had heat.

A local car dealership surprised the family with a shiny, new mini-van. The mother of this family cried, barely able to speak through her tears.

I stood in my kitchen, also crying. Raising my hands to God, "That's you! Thank you, that's you," my way of acknowledging God as provider of that blessing. How fabulous it'd be to give an extravagant gift to someone who needed it so badly.

A FOREVER SHINE

I felt God speak to my heart. The message: You have all that's needed to share a more extravagant gift. One that never deteriorates. It won't rust, break down, or lose value over time.

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ in human form. Jesus Christ has been of and with God from the time of creation. Christmas marks the point where God sent Jesus in order to save us, and make us children of God.

Read John 1:1-13, especially noting verses 9, 12 -13.

YOU SHINE

This Christmas, I urge you to remember the most extravagant gift is God's love. We're called to share it. Read Matthew 5:14-16. Through Jesus, we are to be light in this world.

Find a way to include God's extravagant love along with any gift you give this year. A favorite verse, a written prayer, a touching song lyric.

The "Light of the World" will never lose His shine!

Jeanette Edgar is married to her husband, Randy, of 15 years and a mother of three school-age children. Her passion is to encourage believers to find their own identities in Christ by striving first to know Him better. Personal interests include reading, traveling, hiking, scrapbooking and pushing past complacency to growth in her walk with the Lord. You can follow her Bible reading blog at www.invitedlife.wordpress.com.