Most all of you are hurriedly preparing for a day with family and food. Maybe you’re baking pies, or stuffing a bird right this second, to get it in the oven for it’s long, hot stay until dinner time.
We, however, are not.
Well, technically we are, but it’s all in preparation for a meal that will happen on Sunday, and tiny guests and their parents who arrive tomorrow night. You see, since the kids were coming in for a week, to celebrate an early Christmas, and they were arriving the day after Thanksgiving, we decided to postpone the Thanksgiving meal until Sunday, so everyone could see them. But our Thanksgiving meal will be eaten on Christmas-decorated tables, surrounded by twinkling lights and Christmas carols.
Last night I was thinking about it, and decided that I didn’t want Thanksgiving to be swept under the rug, making it more of a pre-Christmas dinner, so I decided to give it its own name:
CHRISTGIVING
I like that, don’t you? In fact, I like it a lot. I think it’s a holiday that should become second nature and celebrated all year long, every single day. It goes hand-in-hand with Thanksgiving because, when you give thanks to God, and live with a grateful heart, you release some Jesus out into the world. You are giving it Christ, because truly thankful people realize how much they’ve been given for which they’ve done nothing to deserve. They tend to live outside themselves and live toward their fellow man, extending Christ because of the grace He’s given them.
Embrace the joy of those gathered around your table today, and give thanks. Real, true thanks. But when you push back from that table and step beyond the turkey, go live out your thanks and give Christ. There isn’t a gift known to man that is more sorely needed, or more easily given.
Join me in celebrating Christgiving all year long.
“Thank the Lord! Praise his name!
Tell the nations what he has done.
Let them know how mighty he is!
Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things.
Make known his praise around the world.” Isaiah 12:4-5 NLT
Wonderful post that teaches a wonderful message. I love the name you have given our Thanksgiving this year, CHRISTGIVING! What a wonderful motto for living life!! <3 (Looking so forward to our CHRISTGIVING day with our family!)