Gifts and Giving

Christmas is the season of giving. Why do we give and receive gifts at Christmas time? After all, it’s not our birthday! Why do some exchange their gifts on Christmas Eve, while others do so on Christmas Day?

Timing
A Biblical day began at sunset. God's day begins in darkness and ends in light. Today, with our electricity and clocks we calculate days from midnight to midnight. Man’s day begins in darkness and ends in darkness.

So Christmas Day, 25 December, Biblically, begins as the sun sets on Christmas Eve, 24 December. For this reason, many families, from Germanic and Nordic ancestry, celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve.

The Greatest Gift
We give gifts at Christmas time in honour of the greatest Gift ever given. For "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son". Freely we have received, freely we must give. It is far more blessed to give than to receive.

Getting vs. Giving
Yet, we still have many people who have not grasped this most basic truth of Christmas. To many Christmas is the season for getting, not giving. Many have their hands out asking where is their Christmas box? "What do you have for me?" "Give me! Give me! Give me!"

Complete strangers seem to have no shame in demanding some gift for themselves at Christmas Day. We need to remind them whose birthday we are celebrating.

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