I like the story about a man who was tired of all the commercialization of Christmas. So he decided to rebel. He did not put up a Christmas tree or any decorations. He sent no Christmas cards.
For the first week of the season he felt good about his decision. But then he started receiving Christmas cards in the mail from friends and relatives around the country. His will power gradually got weaker. Finally, just four days before Christmas, he hurried down to a nearby store and purchased the only box of cards still on the shelf.
He brought the cards home. He quickly addressed 49 cards. He had one card left over that he tossed on the kitchen table. That night he drove to the post office and mailed the cards. He felt so much better.
The next morning he happened to see the extra card on the table. Suddenly it occurred to him that he had addressed the cards so quickly that he had never bothered to read what the card actually said. So he opened the card and was horrified by the message it conveyed:“This happy card has come to say: A gift from us is on the way!”
In spite of himself, he had accidentally declared the message of the Christmas season - - - a gift is on the way. The greatest gift ever given: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son . . .” The infant child in Bethlehem so long ago is the Savior of the world, God’s greatest gift! Merry Christmas!