O. Henry wrote a short story called “The Gift of the Magi.”  It opens with Della crying because even though she’s saved money to buy a Christmas gift for her husband, Jim, the money isn’t enough to get him what she thinks he deserves.  She and her husband are very poor, but as she looks in the mirror she realizes that she could sell her long, beautiful hair, and by combining the money with what she’s saved, she could get Jim a perfect platinum chain for the pocket watch that’s been passed down to him through the generations. 

When Jim came home that Christmas Eve, he looked at her strangely.  She thought that it was because without her long hair, he no longer thought she was attractive.  She quickly explained that she sold her hair so she could get him a special present.  He opened the present and gently laughed.  “What’s so funny?” she asked.  He said, “I sold my watch in order to buy you these jeweled tortoise shell combs to hold your long hair in place, and now you’ve cut your hair.”  Della cried again.  “Don’t worry,” Jim said.  “Your hair will grow back quickly.  What we’ve given each other we’ve given out of love.”

The story’s narrator states at the end that their gifts were even wiser than the ones given by the magi that first Christmas.

God has sacrificially given us gifts that aren’t simply signs of his love, but they are gifts that perfectly meet our needs.  Sunday I’m preaching on “See the Gift and the Need” from Genesis 3:14-21.  It’s about the curses that came upon the serpent, Adam and Eve, but also about the gift that overcomes the curse.  Please come and celebrate this gift with us this Sunday.

Love,

Jim Meek