Letting things be simple

…Some ways indeed are very odd
By which we hail the birth of God.

We raise the price of things in shops,
We give plain boxes fancy tops
And lines which traders cannot sell
Thus parcell'd go extremely well
We dole out bribes we call a present
To those to whom we must be pleasant
For business reasons. Our defense is
These bribes are charged against expenses
And bring relief in Income Tax
Enough of these unworthy cracks!
'The time draws near the birth of Christ'.
A present that cannot be priced
Given two thousand years ago
Yet if God had not given so
He still would be a distant stranger
And not the Baby in the manger.
~ excerpt from Advent 1955 by John Betjeman

How true that our reasons for giving especially this Christmas season can get easily mixed up with motives and focus besides Jesus. We spend extravagantly to make presents, food, and decorations as attractive as possible so that our guests will be pleased. Then they go home, remembering only the contentment of enjoying these apparent, insignificant things.

Tonight, dad & mum are going to have guests over for an evangelistic Christmas dinner. I’m helping mum prepare the food- roast, wine, desserts. But as much as we want the guests to enjoy the meal, we are trying to keep things simple too. We would rather these guests go home with a greater memory of the sharing and testimonies they will hear of God’s love than the tastiness of food. We sincerely pray that they will openly accept the gift of Jesus. May all glory and esteem be given to Him and His alone.