IT’S THE “COST” THAT COUNTS

By Ellie Gil

By this time you might have gotten a list or two from your kids listing all the things on their wish list for Christmas.  Your husband might also be frantically searching for the perfect gift for you, maybe even asking your kids for some clues about what to get you.

Lots of times as moms we are happy with any little thoughtful gift from our kids, especially when they are little.  As they grow older and have their own money you might feel a little cheated if you get a Popsicle stick covered tin can they put together, or even if your husband goes to the dollar store and gets you a cheap perfume.  If you’re honest, it’s those gifts that say, WOW, that impress us the most.  Before you start thinking –the cost is not what makes it valuable for me- stay with me for a few moments.

Stores put out catalogs with rare and unusual gifts, like the Neiman Marcus Catalog for that special person that has it all, and these gifts are usually very expensive.  Online stores have numerous areas one can go to obtain that special something that will make the recipient say: “I was really being thought of.”  Receiving something from one of these catalogs tells the receiver that the giver spared no expense to impress that special someone.

When it comes to gift giving, it is not always the thought that counts, but the cost.  The more a gift costs the more special it is and the more value it has to the receiver, especially when it was given with sacrifice.  I can’t help but pause and reflect on that special gift that Jesus received right before His sacrifice.  The gift given to Him by Mary Magdalene.  Wow, what a gift, given with such sacrifice, at so great expense.  And do you recall Jesus’ words to her critics?  And what can you say about the widow and her two mites?

This year as I wrapped the gifts for my family I pondered on what gift I could give God that he would want.  He’s got it all, “…Mine are the cattle on a thousand hills”  Ps. 50:10.  But we really know what God wants, He wants us!  And not just a Dollar Store like trinket of us, but the whole us.  The part of us that puts our selfish wants aside and puts Him first.  He wants our gift for him to come at a sacrifice, like when we give up some “me” time to brighten the day of a soul in need.  The part of us that puts on the old dress and instead spends the money on a needy family.  As we read in Romans 12:1 “I plead with you brothers that you present yourselves a living sacrifice…”

Does that sound like a selfish God to you?  No, it comes from a Father that spared no expense for the gift He gave us two thousand years. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only  (that’s sacrifice) begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.   God gave up what was most precious to Him to save us.  He could not bear the thought of spending eternity without us and decided we were worth the sacrifice.  This kind of gift, a gift that comes from such sacrifice can come only from great love.

This season and always give God the rarest and most precious gift of all, best gift He could ever receive, the gift of you!  Remember it’s the cost that counts.