A man, feeling it his duty to deride the practice of giving presents at Christmas, was angrily assailing another Christian for doing so. To this the gift-giving Christian responded, “I can’t help it. It was God’s idea before it was mine!”
This season, as we cherish the memory of God’s gift-giving ways, most importantly the gift of His Son Jesus, it is the most appropriate of times to think on this aspect of the Father’s nature. He’s a Giver! Since His character qualities are certainly desirable to grow and mature in our lives, an unselfish and loving spirit of gift-giving is a grace to learn year round.
This text points to God’s unchanging, seasonless habit of giving: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights…,” sounds like Christmas!, “with whom there is no variation…,” His changeless nature is to give, “or shadow of turning,” literally, no difference from season to season.
