Oh, to be truly thankful! I will never forget the sweet little face that showed me what it looks like to be truly thankful.
I spent the week before Christmas volunteering in my daughter-in-law’s 2nd grade classroom. We ended our busy week with “pajama day,” hot chocolate, a movie and gifts.
The children were excited when it was finally “present time.” I watched as a few of the students presented small gifts to their classmates. As I glanced from child to child, one little boy stole my attention. Tommy (name changed) was so excited that his friends had brought something for him. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he was given a card, a pencil and candy.
Next, it was my turn to distribute the gifts that I had brought. I handed each child a small gift bag with a few inexpensive toys and a couple pieces of candy. Tommy was overjoyed when he peeked inside the bag. He raced across the room to give me a hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” he exclaimed. “Now I will have more toys at home!” He sat at his desk looking like he had won the lottery.
My daughter-in-law, Cassie, saved her presents for last. One of the gifts that she gave the children was a box of colored pencils. This was just too much for Tommy. Tears started welling up in his eyes. “These are really for me?!” he asked in amazement. His little lips began to quiver.
“What’s the matter, Tommy?” Cassie asked.
Tommy was so overwhelmed that he was unable to verbally communicate his feelings. He ran across the room and threw his arms around his beloved teacher. Tears began to stream down his little cheeks. He was smiling and crying at the same time.
“Are you crying tears of joy?” Cassie asked Tommy. He nodded his head and hugged her again.
At this point, other children began to notice that he was crying. Uncertain how to respond, they began to talk amongst each other, “Look, Tommy is crying!”
“He is crying tears of joy,” Cassie explained. “He’s happy.”
“They are Christmas tears,” I added. “Those are the best kind of tears.”
Cassie and I had a difficult time holding back our own tears. We were both humbled by this sweet and grateful little boy. At that moment, I knew what it looked like to be truly thankful.
I thought about his tears of joy… his “Christmas tears.” This is how we all should feel at Christmas. Oh, to be truly thankful like Tommy.
If like Tommy, we are surrounded by people who love us, we have reason to be thankful. We should be thankful for the small acts of thoughtfulness and the little things that we are given. Most of all, we should truly be thankful for Jesus.
Christmas is the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, and we must remember the whole reason He was born. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His One and Only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
God is holy and He created man in His image. Their relationship with each other was wonderful. However, man sinned when he decided to do things his own way. The wages of sin is death, separation from God. So, God sent His Son, Jesus to save us.
Jesus was born of a virgin as was prophesied hundreds of years before His birth. He became God in the flesh. He was tempted in every way just like we are. Yet, He never sinned by giving into His temptations.
Because Jesus was able to live a perfect life, He was able to become a sacrifice for us. He took our punishment by dying on the cross in our place. He shed His blood to pay the wages for our sin and to satisfy God’s wrath.
Jesus who was sinless, took the blame for every single sin ever committed and every single sin that was yet to be committed. He died in my place! He died in your place! He died to save us! For that we should be truly thankful.
May we cry tears of sorrow because of what we have done and tears of joy because of what Jesus has done. Like Tommy, let us exclaim, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Let us find ourselves humbled and in awe that God would sacrifice His One and Only Son to save us from our sins. May our hearts be so moved that we cry tears of joy, “Christmas tears,” when we realize the gift of eternal life that we have received through Jesus. Oh, to be truly thankful.