In 1953, my Grandpa responded to my Grandma’s exasperation at not being able to keep track of gifts for the purpose of writing thank you notes by inventing our family’s Christmas tradition: The Guessing Game.
The premise is fairly simple. Everyone gets a gift from under the tree and then one-by-one we guess what the gift is and then open. We keep score of rights and wrongs. At the end of the present opening, whoever has the most “rights” gets a silver dollar.
Through the years, it has evolved into very creative wrapping procedures in order to trick the receiver into a false guess. Small gifts get large boxes. Larger gifts get scavenger hunts. Items get wrapped with decoy noise making material. It prolongs gift giving and opening, but the reward is that you get to truly enjoy someone’s reaction to their gift. And every mom in the family is grateful for the chance to write down what needs to be included in thank you notes.
There’s a gift that we don’t have to creatively wrap. It’s one that you don’t even have to guess.
It’s the gift of salvation through belief in Jesus as our Savior. He came to offer Himself as a sacrifice for all of our sins…and offered himself as the only gift we will ever need.
As we celebrate the birth of Christ over the next couple of days, please think about those around you who need this gift…who don’t know about this gift…who have previously rejected this gift. Think about who you could share the gift with.
Christmas is the time we celebrate the arrival of the Messiah. Take the guessing out of the gift-giving and prayerfully consider sharing the Gospel with those who need to hear it.
On this Christmas, 65 years after my Grandpa invented the “Guessing Game,” I pray that you will have opportunities to speak of Christ as a gift.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
~Emily
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” ~Matthew 28:19 (NIV)
Iron Porch 