The Gift Goes On

When I was a child we always listened to Christmas music on the car ride home from our California Thanksgiving holiday. We each had our favorite tapes (yes, tapes!), but I'm quite certain my first request was always Sandi Patty, The Gift Goes On. It's probably not a Christmas song many are familiar with, and listening to it now as a grown up, the song has a certain retro quality to it that maybe doesn't transcend generations, but I still love the lyrics:

The Gift Goes On
Chorus: 
The Father gave the Son
The Son gave the Spirit
The Spirit gives us life
So we can give the Gift of love
And the Gift goes on
And the Gift goes on
And the Gift goes on
And the Gift goes on

Don't you love to get a present wrapped up in a Christmas bow
God gave each of us a present on that night so long ago
It's a Gift that keeps on giving if our spirits can receive
It's the secret joy of living if our hearts can just believe


(Chorus)

When your life is full of Christmas then your life is full of love
You can give away the present that began with God above
Just like ripples in the water the circles of our love extend
What was started with the Father is a Gift that has no end

I love the image in the first verse, that picture of a child with a perfectly-wrapped present sitting in her lap, delight spread across her face. We know this picture, this vision of hope and anticipation oozing out of every pore of a child's being. Christmas is so magical through the eyes of a child--they still are full of wonder, full of awe. Without the to-do list or Christmas rush, they truly delight in each new moment the season brings--brilliant lights, colorful decorations, a gift beneath the tree just for them.

As we grow, we lose some of that wonder and replace it with weary worry. We see the pine needles scattered across the floor to be swept up day after day We see the budget and wonder how we will purchase something for every person on our list. We see the extra work of tearing down the decorations that have so bedazzled the season until now. We lose eyes for the wonder and only see the work.

Which is why we need to look back on the child; we need the picture of that little one full of longing and joy. Because Christmas is about the greatest gift ever given. Christmas is about the gift that outdoes all gifts. Christmas is about the trampoline you asked Santa for, that your parents would never previously let you have, arriving in your backyard Christmas morning! It's that but bigger! It is walking out of your car into a brilliant night full of stars when you've lived in the city your whole life! It's that but bigger! It's the debtor begging for just one more month to get the money together, and the lender forgives every penny of it! It's that but even bigger!

This gift of the Son is greater than our souls can even describe. It is the gift of freedom, it is being clothed in beauty, it is being raised to a glorious position, it is being loved intimately, it is being rescued from death, only to know the richness of the purest life. These words of mine can't do it justice, but I will spend eternity trying to articulate this Gift.

This is the gift the God gave us on that night so long ago. And it's the Gift that keeps on giving if our spirits can receive. The dual purpose of this line always captures my heart--this gift gives to me over and over and over again. Each new day the gift of the Christ Child transforms my life, delivers me from darkness to light. But it's also a gift that I then get to give. It is a gift I can keep on giving, over and over again.  

Just like ripples in the water the circles of our love extend. What has started with the Father is a Gift that has no end. We have been given this incredible Gift by the Giver of all good things and He knows, He knows, that greater than the joy of receiving the greatest gift is the joy of then giving the greatest gift. The having is good, it is oh-so-good, but it isn't enough. We must share this gift, not out of compulsion, not because we have to, but because we want every single person we know to know our joy. Our joy is not complete until we have shared it.

Don't you feel this deep in your soul? Isn't this why Facebook and Instagram are so successful? When we experience something wonderful, we want to share it! We don't want to live it alone, we want others to know it's goodness as well. We are bursting to share the things and people who have given us great joy with as many will listen.

And so it is our joy to share the gift of Jesus with the world. We don't have to, we aren't being manipulated into it, we want to, we are dying to! We have known the greatest gift! Here, here it is! Have it! It's yours! I want you to have it! I want you to know the joy I've known! This is for you!

And the Gift goes on.