Around this time of year, I sometimes ponder the order of our holidays.  Thanksgiving comes before Christmas.  I know about the historical significance of Thanksgiving being a time of remembering from whence our bountiful harvest comes – God’s great blessings.  But didn’t God give us our greatest gift at Christmas?  So, shouldn’t Thanksgiving follow Christmas?  Then we could remember the blessings of harvest-time and the greater blessings of Christmastide, all at the same time! 

But wait.  Before we start a movement to re-arrange our holidays, let’s consider some other ideas.  What is it that helps us give our best gifts?  Isn’t it appreciation of those to whom we give them? 

Think back on when you gave a “great” gift to someone – your mother or father, a child or sister or brother, a spouse or a close friend.  Perhaps you thought and searched, long and hard, and finally you found that item that was “just perfect” for them.  Maybe you saw them looking longingly at it in a store window or magazine.  Or they talked about it often enough that you knew they were really interested in it.  You may have had to save a little extra money (or maybe a lot extra) to buy it, or had to go to extra effort to find it.  Whatever the circumstances, you probably never thought you could find such a perfect gift for that special person.  You were excited to consider how they would react when they opened it.  You enjoyed wrapping it and getting ready to give it to them.  And then, the moment they opened it and you saw the look on their face, you knew it was all worth it!

Why was it such a special moment?  Because of the gift?  In part, perhaps.  But more so, it was because of your relationship with the person to whom you gave it!  You cared about them, were thankful for them.  You appreciated them and what they meant to you, and so that gift was your response.  In a very real way, your gift was a thank-you.  In thanks, you were willing to sacrifice without a second thought.  Your love for them was based in a thankful response to the love they showed you.

Thanksgiving is a response of gratitude to God for His blessings born of His grace and love.  Our gratefulness for God’s gift motivates us to give back in the form of love to Him and others.  Our sincere gratitude produces a joyful, bountiful, generous giving!

So maybe our holidays aren’t backward after all.  Maybe the thanks we share at Thanksgiving puts us in the right mood for Christmas.  This year, let’s have our thanks be the motivation for our celebration of Christmas – thanks to God for the amazing gift of his only Son, and thanks to others for the blessings that God has given to us through them.  Let Christmas be a season of another kind of thanks-giving – giving to others because we are thankful for them.  As Paul said of one of his congregations, “I thank my God whenever I remember you.”  (Philippians 1:3)

After all, the original gift-giver was our Lord Himself! Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!  2 Corinthians 9:16