What Can I Offer Him?

I have a dilemma every year around Christmas.  My dilemma is this:  my wife is a not much of a gift person.  I mean, she likes getting gifts and won’t turn up her nose at any well-intentioned purchase.  But it’s just really not how she’s wired and I’ve learned that Christmas is a time in which she really doesn’t care if she gets anything at all.  True story. 

Contrast that to me and you’ll see a guy who LOVES presents.  My sister can attest to the fact that I was that kid who poked around the tree each year, counting out how many presents I had, shaking each one and imagining what was inside.  I could still be that way in a lot of ways!  But now with 4 boys, I’d much rather see their happy faces opening a special gift rather than my own.  Hey maybe I am finally growing up!

Some years my wife and I will exchange gifts.  The last couple years, we haven’t necessarily gotten each other something specific but we’ll often do a fun event as a way to celebrate…maybe go out to eat, see a movie, buy a piece of furniture…you know, grown up stuff.  Probably a little more boring than Hot Wheels or video games but we make it special to us.  

Into this dilemma of what to give at Christmas, I always come face to face with the burden that somehow I need to do something for Jesus.  I need to give Him something.  Truth be told, I take the mindset of a Midwesterner (and most anyone can relate):  if you give me some kind of a gift, then I must somehow return the favor.  God gives us this great gift in the form of Jesus and we celebrate it at Christmas.  But then we look around and say, “How can I return the favor, God?” as if there’s any ounce of repayment we could muster. 

God doesn’t need nor does He ask for your gift at Christmas (or any time of the year for that matter) 

When our hearts are wanting to somehow give back, it’s comforting to know we are in good company in that desire.  The Psalmist struggled with wanting to “make it right” with God as well:  What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?  Psalm 116:12  That’s really a rhetorical question which sets up the answer:  we cannot bring anything to Him.  We have no means to bring Him anything and He has no need because He is God.  He is all-sufficient and all-supplying.  He is our source of strength and daily supplies our needs. 

The amazing truth about Christianity is that God came down and took the lowliest position.  Nowhere is this more highlighted than in the Christ birth narrative: 

No room at the inn, no proper place to have a baby, no place to lay the baby except a feeding trough…AND no fanfare except through a choir of angels and some lowly shepherds (and later wisemen)…all this for a supposed King?  Yes.  God’s plan all along and He does what often does not make sense or compute in our human understanding. 

When you struggle with what to bring to God, simply bring Him your praise 

There’s a favorite Christmas song of mine, The Little Drummer Boy, which speaks to this very idea: 

Little baby 
Pa rum pum pum pum 
I am a poor boy too 
Pa rum pum pum pum 
I have no gift to bring 
Pa rum pum pum pum 
That's fit to give our king 
Pa rum pum pum pum, 
Rum pum pum pum, 
Rum pum pum pum 
Shall I play for you 
Pa rum pum pum pum 
Pa rum pum pum 
Pum pum pum pum 

I have no gift.  I have nothing.  But what I do have, I give to You Jesus.  I give You my worship.  The fictional story of the little drummer boy is a reality that what I can do is “play for Him.”  I can worship Him.  Not just on Sundays.  Not just at Christmas.  But everyday, in every situation.  When you struggle with what to bring a King, you realize there is nothing.  But that nothing brings you to a complete place of awe and wonder.  Adoration.  Amazement at Who this God is and why He came to save us. 


I mentioned last week that I picked a word to center on and consider over this Christmas season.  That word for me is ADORE.  I’m sensing that God’s put this word before me in many places and made it a reminder that what I must do at Christmas is adore Him.  "O come let us adore Him" is a lyric that beats in my heart and a playlist that occurs over and over.  I still challenge you this week to find a word that causes you to consider Christmas once again; it’s meaning and it’s depth.  If you’d share that word with me, I’ll be praying that it takes on special significance for you during this time. 

I love you guys!  There’s nothing we can offer Him this year at Christmas but take heart in that.  He only wants you and is after your complete devotion to Him. 

Praising God for a King who came down to my level to redeem and restore my brokenness. 

Let’s connect: 

Email:  info@derekcharlesjohnson.com 

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