The perfect gift

By Rob Hurtgen

Christmas is Monday. Gifts are under the tree, or at least hidden in the closet waiting to be wrapped. I do hope I can remember where I put everything.

I've observed that there are several types of gift givers. First, there are the slow gift-givers who wait until the last moment to buy their presents. Many are convinced the closer to Christmas they wait to buy their gifts the bigger the discount will be. The advent of gift cards and their availability at nearly all convenience stores have brought great ease to the slow gift giver. If you happen to be a slow gift giver, relax -- you have a few hours before you should really start getting nervous.

Then there are the generic gift givers. These are the people who buy the same gift for everyone on their list. They do not give the same gift because they really enjoyed what they are giving, rather they want to be fair. Generic gift givers reason, "It would be unfair to give someone a great gift and someone else a bad gift, so I'll give everyone the same average gift." They may even work in cycles: year one, wallet; year two, socks; year three, aftershave. Then the cycle repeats.

There are also the particular gift givers who spend much time finding their gifts. In the spring, when many are planting gardens or going on picnics, particular gift givers will be making their lists of who they are going to buy Christmas gifts for that year. They then spend the next several months scouring mom and pop novelty shops, websites and department stores in search of that particular gift.

Don't forget the list gift giver. They ask, and then you purchase that particular item and give it to them. A very simple process.

Gift giving can range from stressful to joyful, and budget friendly to "what budget?" Yet, gift giving, while important, is not the main reason for Christmas. We give at Christmas because God gave.

Gift giving reflects God who, at the right time, gave the perfect gift so we who are set against him might, in faith, be made right before him. Jesus, the first Christmas gift, was given at the right time, in the right way, to make right all of us who were not right. Faith in him is the greatest gift any could receive.