Yesterday, in my morning message, I mentioned that my wife and I have reached the stage in our lives where the joy of Christmas is felt much more in giving to others than in getting things ourselves. This especially applies to our relationship with our parents. Over the last several years, therefore, we have been joyfully introducing them to everything from their very first laptop computers and iPods to treadmills and exercise machines.
Pastor Clifford S. Stewart, Senior Pastor of First Central Presbyterian Church of Abilene, Texas, can obviously relate to our situation. He tells the following story. Years ago, when he was pastoring in Louisville, Kentucky, he and his wife gave his parents their very first microwave oven for Christmas. Here's how he recalls the experience.
"They were excited that now they, too, could be a part of the instant generation... (But) when Dad unpacked the microwave and plugged it in, literally within seconds, the microwave transformed two smiles into frowns! Even after reading the directions, they couldn't make it work.
"Two days later, my mother was playing bridge with a friend and confessed her inability to get that microwave oven even to boil water: 'To get this crazy thing to work,' she exclaimed, 'I really don't need better directions; I just needed my son to come along with the gift!'"
His closing observation is particularly insightful: “When God gave the gift of salvation, he didn't send a booklet of complicated instructions for us to figure out; He sent His Son.” And all of God’s people say, “AMEN!” Christmas is nothing less than God giving us the gift of His very own Son! And that is certainly the Gift that matters most of all!
SOURCE: http://www.lcbc-wv.org/index.php?option=com_co
ntent&view=article&id=108%3Adec-10&Itemid=78.
Dr. Stewart’s web site is: http://www.fcpc.net/home.asp.
Pastor Clifford S. Stewart, Senior Pastor of First Central Presbyterian Church of Abilene, Texas, can obviously relate to our situation. He tells the following story. Years ago, when he was pastoring in Louisville, Kentucky, he and his wife gave his parents their very first microwave oven for Christmas. Here's how he recalls the experience.
"They were excited that now they, too, could be a part of the instant generation... (But) when Dad unpacked the microwave and plugged it in, literally within seconds, the microwave transformed two smiles into frowns! Even after reading the directions, they couldn't make it work.
"Two days later, my mother was playing bridge with a friend and confessed her inability to get that microwave oven even to boil water: 'To get this crazy thing to work,' she exclaimed, 'I really don't need better directions; I just needed my son to come along with the gift!'"
His closing observation is particularly insightful: “When God gave the gift of salvation, he didn't send a booklet of complicated instructions for us to figure out; He sent His Son.” And all of God’s people say, “AMEN!” Christmas is nothing less than God giving us the gift of His very own Son! And that is certainly the Gift that matters most of all!
SOURCE: http://www.lcbc-wv.org/index.php?option=com_co
ntent&view=article&id=108%3Adec-10&Itemid=78.
Dr. Stewart’s web site is: http://www.fcpc.net/home.asp.