The Thought That Counts

It’s The Thought That CountsWhen it comes to the giving of gifts, they always say, “It’s the thought that counts.” It’s not the price tag that counts, they say. It’s not the size of the gift or the cost of the gift, but rather the thought, or so the saying goes. But if a man was a millionaire and all he thought to give his wife for Christmas was a lollipop, she probably wouldn’t feel all that loved and cherished. She would likely say something like, “Wow! You really put a lot of thought into that, honey!” Of course it would be said in a kind of sarcastic tone and Christmas dinner conversation would be a little frosty. It could be that what the gift is also says something about the thought that went into it. The cost of the gift could very well say something about the sacrifice that went into it. The nature of the gift could say something about the love that went into it. Even how a gift came about could infer something about the gift-giver and what they wanted to say to the receiver of the gift. Sometimes a homemade present that took a long time to make can say even more than a hastily bought gift that was purchased at the last minute, although it might cost a lot more. Here’s a Christmas suggestion: While you’re shopping for the people you love and while you’re wrapping their gifts and while you’re sending out Christmas cards, pray for all those who have presents under your tree and for the card recipients. For 20 Christmases I have tried to give every person in our church and many more outside our church a Christmas gift of some kind. It’s almost always some kind of ornament to hang on the tree. It’s certainly nothing to get excited about and I know it could easily get lost in the mix of holiday input. But I continue to do it for one ,main reason — it gives me a chance to pray for each and every one of you and your families. Not that I don’t make an effort to do that all year, but just in case the needs of others took up most of my time during the year, Christmas gives me a chance to think about every single person in our church family and pray for them by name as I write names on the cards and put them in the baskets in the foyer. By the way, you probably have one from Thea and me in there right now. And many others, too. When you take time to pray over each gift and each recipient, the thought really does count because genuine needs are laid in the capable hands of our God.Jesus Is Still The Star of Christmas, Pastor Monte Smith and Thea Smith (Merry Christmas!)North Syracuse Christian Churchhttps://www.facebook.com/NSyrCC