With Christmas around the corner, one can’t help but think about gifts. Giving and receiving gifts is fun but the one thing I can’t stand is wrapping gifts. I’m just so bad at it. If they offered a gift wrapping class for dummies, I’d fail miserably. I’m terrible with scissors, I can’t cut in a straight line, I always end up with either too much paper or I’ll come up too short, that I can’t even cover up the gift. Everything ends up so uneven and by the time an hour goes by and I’ve gone through the last roll of tape, I finally have another messily wrapped gift to give away. I’d rather just throw it in a bag and be done with it but since that’s not the Christmas spirit, I try my best anyway. Sometimes,  if I’m lucky, I’ll get my mom to do it. She’s like the Picasso of gift wrapping, all the corners are nicely tucked in and everything is precise and neatly presentable.  I envy people who can gift wrap. If that’s you, I applaud you. Anyway, as much as I hate gift wrapping, I will admit, when done right, it does look beautiful when all is wrapped up and placed around the Christmas tree. My favorite part about the whole gift thing though, is seeing the faces of my children light up when they see their presents. It’s so funny to observe kids opening up their gifts. Have you ever observed how a baby opens up a gift? I remember once when my son was around one or so, I gave Thomas a present and tried to help him open the wrapping paper. He proceeded to tear off a piece and then it was like the rest of the gift didn’t matter. He took that wrapping paper and started to play with it like that was the gift itself. He was so into the wrapping paper I had to yank it out of his hands before he could put it into his mouth. I had to actually finish unwrapping the rest of the gift myself, to finally get his attention onto the toy inside. I thought to myself, if wrapping paper is all he wanted, then I could’ve saved a bundle of money and just got him several roles of wrapping paper instead. It’s funny when you think about it, as Christians living in this temporary world, we kind of do the same thing. Sometimes, we tend to act like babies and get so caught up in the wrapping paper of this world, that we forget the important things in life are in the box. The wrapping paper is this world we live in, our jobs, money, our own physical bodies, even temporary relationships. Nothing wrong with any of that but when those things take all our focus and we’re neglecting what really matters, like the spiritual things in life, than that’s when it becomes a problem. I go to the gym at least three times a week and I love it, the way it makes you feel and how you look is rewarding. But I also know that I got to be careful, for it’s so easy to get caught up on how the outside of my body looks, that I neglect to work on my inner character. This outer shell of mine will eventually fade but the Spirit man inside of me needs exercise too and if I’m neglecting to spend time working out in God’s gym, than what a waste it’s going to be when my flesh fades and all I have is a scrawny spiritual body. I don’t know about you but I want to look like Thor when I get to heaven not Pewee Herman. Facial creams and anti aging lotions, cosmetic surgery, the world spends millions of dollars to dress up the wrapping paper. Look, there’s nothing wrong with a red bow or some ribbon on your wrapper and I’m not one of those Christians that says you can’t ever but just make sure we remember that real value is what’s on the inside of the package. How do we do this? First and foremost you got to have Jesus inside your package. Remember, not all gifts are worth the same. You can have two boxes all wrapped up the same but one has a laptop in it and the other a tuna fish scraper. Get what I mean? I have no idea what a tuna fish scraper is, I just made that up. So don’t go looking for one on Amazon. But seriously, only Jesus living inside of us gives us true worth and value and as we meditate on God’s Word day and night, spend time with Him in prayer and worship, then our inner character will grow as it was intended to. Been focusing on your gift wrap too much? God knows I’m guilty but thanks be to God there’s grace. Grace came to us two thousand years ago in a small little package in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger for you and me.  Jesus Christ, God wrapped in flesh.  So, as you go about your Christmas, this season, it’s okay to enjoy the gift wrap, for it does have a purpose. However, don’t play with it for too long, and whatever you do, don’t eat the gift wrap. Remember, the real gift is what’s inside.

Colossians 3:2
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”