Have you ever played that game where you roll the dice, and IF you roll a certain number you get a present? Or even better, you get to TAKE a gift from someone else!
Somehow, inevitably, one gift is the pretty one, the biggest one or the shiny one. Or one is somehow deemed to have MORE VALUE than all the others.
Everyone keeps stealing the ‘BEST’ gift over and over again from each other. And at the end of the game when the presents get unwrapped, we find out that we’ve ALL been taken in by clever packaging.
The coveted gift is really just a dish pan scrubber or something else boring and unattractive; something we would NEVER have fought over if we had known what was REALLY inside!
One Born Every Minute
In life we get suckered in by the packaging, too. The charming, HANDSOME, jobless guy with the six-pack abs gets stolen from one single girlfriend by another.
The ATTRACTIVE, flirty, curvy SEXetary (that’s NOT a misspelling) steals the attention, affection and more from the married guy at the office.
The MOUTH WATERING, luscious, calorie and fat laden holiday dessert makes us think, “Well just this ONCE!” (For the 100th time this season!)
The big, BEAUTIFUL house or the faster, SLEEKER car with the “new car smell” has us pushing the limits of our paycheck to acquire the BIG prize.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. Be SURE to open it up and find out how the story ends BEFORE you take it because of its pretty packaging.
Wait upon the Lord.
The world is SO messed up that movies have us rooting for the “other woman”. We even begin to think that sleeping around and what we want in the moment is not only ok, but our RIGHT.
Please don’t.
A wise friend of mine once told me, “If it’s God today… it will be God tomorrow.” Whatever we THINK we want, I promise you, we should only want it if it’s what God has for us.
We should take a moment to ask God about it. And if we’re too embarrassed to ask Him… well then, we probably already know the answer!
Dazzled and Dazed
The pressure of the holiday season and the expectations of the people we love (and even a few that we don’t) may cause us to extend our credit well beyond where we should.
We can easily be tempted to lay our financial future on the store counter and declare, “Charge it!”
I’m not saying that we should have a “present free” Christmas. (because who would EVER read a blog about that) But I AM saying, can we just PAUSE for a moment?
Take a breath. Wait until tomorrow. Think it ALL the way through. If the packaging looks “too good to be true”, we need to look even closer to make sure that what we’re ACTUALLY getting is as good as was advertised.
Free Advice (Take it or leave it!)
This holiday season, or any day of the year, we must NOT be easily deceived. The SPARKLE will only last for a moment… but the consequences may last a LIFETIME! Don’t be fooled by the fancy packaging.
This advice is the BEST thing I could possibly give you for Christmas. It will save you heartache (like I have endured in my own life) and bring you long lasting happiness.
And who doesn’t want happiness for Christmas?
WHAT CAN YOU SHARE FROM YOUR LIFE TO HELP OTHERS FROM MOVING TOO FAST AND GETTING HURT???
Amen! Great points. Funny, as I was reading the intro paragraphs, I clearly recalled the time when we all played a similar game – with a slight twist. As each person was allowed to select their gift, they opened it. The next person up was able to select a new wrapped present OR steal from the person that had already opened theirs – and revealed what was inside. One of my pre-teens had finished the game with what he thought was a HUGE 5 lb. Hershey’s chocolate only to find that it was simply a miniature encased in a large cardboard constucted to mimick a HUGE candy bar! So disappointing. Yet, what a great life lesson!! I am always allowing my children (as they are old enough) to learn from my own life lessons. I pray and lead and teach them to place God first in all things. Thank you for this post!
Great Christmas present Pastor Nicole! It’s so true that this society is design to lure us in by exterior appearances especially around the holiday season.
I have personally made the mistake (more than once) to overspend for the Holidays just to please everyone. Well, the good news is I don’t fall for that anymore. With that in mind, you will still have a great Holiday Celebration with your family without the headache the rest of the next year of paying back with interest all the stuff you bought in December. Thank you for the advice and reminder!
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the presents for everyone that we forget what Christmas is really about. Wouldn’t it be nice if all the gifts went to the children who have nothing and the money we spent for a huge feast fed several families instead? So many of us are so blessed with much, while others struggle for a simple meal or a warm blanket. We celebrate December 25th as the day Christ was born. May our hearts open up as to how we celebrate Him by keeping Him in the center and the “giving of gifts” to those in need.