Christmas in June

134/365

I absolutely love Christmas, who doesn’t. I love the season, I love the joyful morale and I love, love, love decorations. One of my most highly regarded priorities during this time of year is gift wrapping. My mom has taught me well. I love wrapping presents and making them shine with beauty. Whenever I give a gift, I am secretly hoping that my impressive wrapping job is not only appreciated, but acknowledged.

I remember one holiday season specifically, only a few years ago. I was fresh out of college, working as a nanny, and hardly having two twenty dollar bills to rub together. I had managed to remain well within my holiday budget in terms of gift buying and the like. Where I did run rampant, however, was with wrapping materials. I can honestly say that I went crazy. I bought bows, ribbons, two-sided tape, paper, bags…the list was endless. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I spent much more time on the wrapping than the actual gifts themselves. Always focused on the outside, my priorities were a bit…off.

Matthew 5:8
“You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” – The Message

God is not just concerned with outward behavior, but also with what goes on inside us, who we really are. For Jesus, it is what goes on inside us that determine the true value of our outward acts.

Most of us are pretty good at putting on a reasonable show on the outside; (I, myself, am one of the best). But, whether we like it or not, what we really are is determined by what is on the inside.