December 22, 2022

Every year, about this time, my father-in-law, who had shopped only a few days earlier with my daughter, would have her over to wrap the presents he bought. He loved Christmas but always waited until the last minute to prepare. To honor him, we will gather the entire family one more time on Christmas morning as a tribute to him, so we went out and bought gifts just like he would have us do in the past. So yesterday, which seems last-minute, we spent several hours wrapping all the gifts.

Some of the things we do are rooted in traditions from the past, even though we may do them without knowing exactly how they started. I’m guessing someone, many years ago, decided that giving presents as a celebration of the birth of Christ was a good idea because the wise men brought gifts to Jesus; at least, that’s what I keep telling myself because I like giving gifts. Whatever we do, we must honor God and worship him because without him being a part of our celebration, it becomes worthless and time-wasting. Make it a tradition to glorify God and praise him as the shepherds did on the night of Jesus’s birth. 

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2:20