Getting the Giving

You've all surely heard the familiar holiday cliche:

"Its better to give than to receive."

I'm not a big fan of cliches because they have a tendency to generalize. For instance, I can think of an exception to this cliche: Go Fish. You know...the card game. Its much better to receive the cards you need than to give them away. A more Christmas-appropriate example: No one playing the Dirty Santa or White Elephant gift exchange game wants to keep the socks. They would much rather give them to the dude with the $15 gift card to Blockbuster so they would get the gift card that broke the $10 limit.

But you can ask my mom: When it comes to Christmas, I am much more passionate about what I give to others than what I ask for myself. I try to be thoughtful and specific with the gifts I give. When my mom asked me for what I wanted this Christmas I told her (verbatim): "One of those ceramic spoon-holder thingies you set in the middle of the stove so that when you're cooking you have a place to rest your spoons."

The reason I am more passionate about the giving is because I get more satisfaction from the joy of the recipient than I get from the joy of receiving. On Christmas morning, the novelty of receiving for me ends when the cleaning up of the piles of wrapping paper begins. But the joy of giving carries over every time I see someone using or enjoying what I gave them. And almost invariably I feel that no matter the gift I gave, I receive more joy from the giving than the recipient gets from the gift.

I wonder if God is the same way.

We spend the Christmas season praising God for the gift of Himself in the form of a babe in a manger. We marvel at the paradox of God being a helpless baby born among the animals. We reflect on that birth's fulfillment of generations of prophecy and the promise of the prophecy yet to be fulfilled:

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities. - Isaiah 53:5, 7-11

As we are filled with the joy of His gifts during this season, I wonder if He is not even more happy to have given. After all, since before there was time He had been planning this gift. Dropping hints about it. Twiddling His thumbs in anticipation. He knew this would be the perfect gift.

Our smiles fade as Christmas Day passes further and further into the past.

I'm willing to bet that His smile has not and will not ever fade.

Take the time this Christmas season to get God's giving. To imagine our own joy concerning His gift multiplied infinitely and not even coming close to the joy God experiences in the giving.