An American Christmas Experience: The Consequence of Abundance

Merry Christmas!

I trust you had a wonderful Christmas.

Had an interesting conversation with my dad on Christmas evening. My dad grew up in Korea during the Korean War and through the hard times after the war. He tells stories of the times when he was so hungry he had to eat the bark and leaves of trees and even grass just to fill his stomach.

As he sat watching my nieces open up present after present of toys and more toys on top of the many toys they already have and they don't use, he just shook his head. When he was a child, if he received anything, he was so incredibly grateful because they had so little. But these kids, although they have so much, know nothing about gratitude and appreciating what they have because they have so much.

And then dad said, that's like America. We have been given so much and there is so much abundance, that we have lost the ability to appreciate gifts and be grateful for what we are given. So when it comes to the gift of Jesus in Christmas, because we have so much, because we are so self-sufficient, we don't appreciate what God's given us. We don't know how to be grateful. And the tragedy of the abundance is that we have lost the ability to be grateful.

And so we hear about the gift of Jesus - how he gave up heaven to come to us in the form of a child to be born in a manger - and we're more concerned with what's coming up on tv and what movie we're going to watch than to thank the God who has given us life.

So friends, before another moment goes by, take a moment right now to reflect on the gift of Jesus and remember to thank God for the gift of eternal life.

Merry Christmas!