Do you remember being a child around Christmas?
Do you remember the giddy feeling you’d get as soon as you’d see those presents under the Christmas tree?
All the wonder and curiosity of what’s inside danced in your mind. And that is why this family celebrates Christmas this way.
Instead of hiding the gifts the parents would put them under the tree weeks ahead. The children would sit by them pointing and chatting about them. They weren’t allowed to touch them or pick them up until Christmas. Now imagine with me all the wonder and excitement as a child while the gifts scream ‘open me!’ as they sit under the tree.
They didn’t teach this as patience. They had a far greater lesson in mind.
Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
2 Corinthians “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
How we anticipate the gifts of Christmas is how we should anticipate being with Christ in heaven someday. The Bible tells us bits and pieces giving us an idea of what heaven will be like, but we will never fully know until we are there. Just like the gifts they had an idea of what was underneath the bows and colorful wrapping paper. There’s still the anticipation of seeing.
A family tradition presented as a greater lesson.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Good point that we should anticipate being with our lord someday with such breathless excitement.
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I love that you are anticipating Christmas already. we should wake up anticipating time with the Lord. That’s true love
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Wow, never thought of it like that but I love this persepctive
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Thank you!
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I love that Romans verse!!!!! It is so good and has helped me so much ❤
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It’s funny, our pastor spoke to the kids about this exact point before Christmas last year, right around Thanksgiving actually. It made a huge impact on them, and then we put together the last few shoeboxes with new vigor in hopes of saving more brothers and sisters for Christ.
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That’s really cool!
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Such a great post! I love your perspective!
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Really, every day is Christmas because He is here with us!
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I remember being so excited about Christmas, too. Thank you for the challenge of being excited about living in Heaven with our Lord and Savior.
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we wait for him n anticipation. 🙂
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There was a song in the 90s that I loved that had the same basic idea. It was by 2 hearts and it talked about our anticipation of heaven.
Here’s the chorus:
Isn’t anybody talkin’ ’bout goin’ home anymore
Isn’t anybody talkin’ ’bout streets of gold
Could it be we’re so happy with things down here
The holy place we once held dear
From our sight has disappeared
Is there anybody talkin’ ’bout goin’ home
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Sigh….sometimes I think persons are more into Christmas than Christ. Perhaps that is the reason many want to remove the word “Christ” from the word…
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I agree a lot of people dont even want to say Merry Christmas anymore…its so sad.
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It’s sad that most places you don’t even hear a Merry Christmas anymore. With it just around the corner that will all start up again. I still say Merry Christmas thats what it is.
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I sure do too! I write it everywhere!
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I absolutely love Christmas. I remember being a play as a child the Bethlehem I was the tree that made the manger. I hate that people get so offended that they are stop saying Merry Christmas. I know I say it all season long.
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Much of the enjoyment of anything is in the anticipation!
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What a lovely perspective! I still feel the giddiness of Christmas and love this verse!
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Thanks for sharing some of your family traditions, it’s always interesting to hear what this holiday means to everyone and how they celebrate it
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What a great lesson and thank you for sharing.
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This really speaks to me in the sense that there’s no reason given to me as a child why I had to wait until Christmas to open my presents. It was just the way it was and I accepted that that was the way it was even with the anticipation and wait. In a lot of ways, that’s what it’s like with the way I wait for His promises.
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I love this reminder. Christ is more than anything we will receive here on earth. ❤️
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