How To Ruin A Christmas Gift

The last few times I have been to a book store I have noticed an entire section dedicated to, how shall I say it, to the academically challenged? The titles of all the Books have the word, “Dummy” in them. “Banjo’s for Dummies,” “Computers for Dummies,” “English for Dummies,” etc… I believe you get my meaning. The concept behind this series of books is to help people who want to learn the basics of any subject. I have purchased a couple of these books, and they are helpful in pointing out the fundamentals of history, how to correctly hold a banjo, and the difference between a G chord and a D chord. The most important idea of any book is to read it, and apply what you have studied to your life.

 

Even though I have a couple of books with the word “Dummy” in the title, I don’t want to be called a “dummy.” I like to consider myself a person with good sense, and if I make a mistake I want to learn from it. I believe the worst mistake a person can make is to make the same mistake twice or more than twice. Now that we have all this settled, I want to tell you how to ruin a Christmas gift

 

Since Christmas is right around the corner, and gifts are going to be given and received, this is the perfect time to decide how you are going to respond to a gift. I have received countless gifts in my lifetime, and I have appreciated each and every one of them. The older I get, the more I appreciate each gift because I know of the expense, time and effort involved in giving something to someone else. However, this was not always the case. When my brother and I were in our preteens, we worked for a man in our community. We would cut his grass in the summer time, rake his leaves in the fall, and do any other manual labor that he wanted done throughout the year. We were dependable, courteous, and cheap, so we were in demand. One Christmas season our boss brought us some gifts to thank us for our hard work during that past year. He brought some clothing, a few games, and a basketball. We were very grateful, thanked him for the gifts, and took our new possessions to our room. We tossed the clothes in the floor, opened up the games, and placed the basketball (still in the box) to the side of our room with the intent of playing basketball the next day. Without realizing it, we placed the basketball in front of an electric heater…and it stayed put all night long. The next morning we woke up, took the basketball out of the package, but noticed something strange about our new gift. The basketball had grown a goiter on the side that was lying against the heater. The basketball was no longer round, but round with an appendage attached to it. We tried to bounce it, but every time the goiter hit the ground the basketball would shoot off in a wayward direction. We hated to admit it, but we unintentionally ruined a brand new basketball simply out of neglect. We had placed the gift in the wrong spot, and without thinking we took away the value and purpose of the gift. We didn’t want to throw the basketball away, and we couldn’t play with it, so we placed it back in the closet hoping that a nice cool, dark place would change it back. It never changed back. Even until this day, I consider the foolishness on the part of my brother (and me), and all the fun we lost because of negligence.

 

John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” What have you done with the greatest gift ever given to mankind? Have you pushed it to the side in neglect and carelessness, or have you accepted this gift and living your life in response to all the blessings that comes from Jesus Christ? Remember, don’t give in to sin. Think about it!