There Were Two Seven Year Old Girls That Could ...

There were two seven year old girls that could not wait for Christmas. You remember that time in your life when you didn’t sleep much the week before Christmas because of the excitement. These girls felt that excitement, they couldn’t wait to open their presents from the mom and dad. The Christmas tree was decorated with lights of yellow and blue and green. The star on top of the tree twinkled each time Emily and Sara glanced at it. You feel Christmas in the air. The smell of gingerbread and cookies and cold milk filled the entire house. Emily and Sara were 7 years old, they were twins, sisters, best friends. It had began to snow as the girls were told by their mother that it was time for bed. The one night of the year that they didn’t argue with their mom was this night, because they wanted Santa to come. They went up stairs, rushed into bed, and fell asleep. They dreamed that night of the toys and games they could play the next day. The next day, they woke and ran downstairs were mom and dad were waiting. They smelled breakfast, eggs and toast, bacon and pancakes, their favorite. After breakfast they went to the living room so they could open presents. They unwrapped and laughed and laughed. This was the best day of the year for two 7 year old girls. Once the presents were opened they played with their toys. They played and played. Just a few moments later a knock was heard at the door. Emily and Sara ran to the door and opened it. When they opened it, they were amazed at who they saw. Tommy Hayes from their class in school, who was a mean boy was standing there in his yellow toboggan and blue sweater. He didn’t say a word, he handed them 2 gifts, 1 each and left. Emily and Sara didn’t know what to think, he was a mean boy, that got in fights and made fun of people. They came to the living room where mom was sitting. She had seen Tommy at the door and she asked her daughters what they had. One present was wrapped beautifully, while the other was wrapped in newspaper. Emily, who had the Christmas tree wrapping paper around it began to open her gift after some encouragement from her mother. Sara also began to unwrap hers out of the newspaper. Both girls found a box, and opened them at the same time, to find….nothing. The box was empty. The two seven year old tenderhearted girls began to cry. Why would Tommy Hayes, that mean boy, take the time to wrap presents, and bring them to their house, and put nothing in them, just to be mean. Their hearts were broken.

Many people in this world wrap a present to God. They wrap with their sacrifices as in the case of Israel, and as for us, we wrap our worship. Some of us use beautiful Christmas tree wrapping paper, while others use junky newspaper. But, in either case if you do not put your life, who you are, in the wrapped box, it means nothing.

Many people give God a wrapped present with nothing inside. They wrap it with worship, but fill it with nothing.