I SUFFER FROM THE “CHRISTMAS SYNDROME” … DO YOU?

Back in September my wife and I were Blessed by being able to go on a Cruise with her brother and sister and their spouses. We knew it was going to be a gala event, and that a good time would be had by all. And, about a week before we were to depart, I started to be plagued by the Christmas Syndrome!

I wasn’t surprised … it happens virtually every time I am about to experience an exciting event. Here are some of the symptoms:

•  I find it hard to concentrate on what I am doing.
•  I become even more forgetful!
•  I have a hard time sleeping at night!
•  I find myself wishing time would go by even faster!

I’m sure by now you have figured out how I came up with the name the “Christmas Syndrome.” I started experiencing the affects some sixty-five years or so ago and, quite honestly, I still experience them to this very day! Only now, I would like to think the reason I get so excited is for a different reason.

For the first decade of my life my December palpitations revolved around such things as a gift-laden tree and an over-stocked Christmas Stocking, compliments of Santa Claus! Now, though, my excitement is fanned by the promise of family gatherings and enjoying myself by watching the grandkids’ excitement! Even more, I am excited because I know what Christmas is REALLY all about – the giving of the FIRST Christmas Gift!

Now … If you think the first Christmas Gift was either Gold, Frankincense or Myrrh you would be wrong! The very FIRST Christmas Gift was wrapped in swaddling cloth and was not placed under a tree, but, rather, in a manger! And to say that it was a gift given from the heart would be an understatement! The proof of this is not found in Luke chapter two, but in John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Think about this for a minute … when we give a gift of great value, we assume that the recipient is going to take good care of it; to honor and respect it; to cherish and protect it. God, on the other hand, had no such expectations. He knew that His gift would someday be scoffed and mocked; whipped and beaten; nailed to a cross and have the very life sucked out of it!

I realize that you may be thinking, “Floyder, how the smash can you get all excited and gushy about such a morbid thought?” Well, it can be summed up by, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story.” You see, I get excited at Christmas because I know that Easter Sunday isn’t far away, and that through the Gift of God we get the Gift of Eternal Life! And that, my friend, is worth gushing about!!!