What do you want for Christmas?” Isn’t that a frequently asked question this time of year? A parent or grandparent asks a child. A spouse asks a partner. The question may be posed to a friend or co-worker.
Usually the inquirer seeks to learn the desires of the one questioned. Perhaps those desires will guide the inquirer in selecting a special gift for the family member or friend. The answers may be the difference between being stuck with something one does not want or like or being blessed with a gift desired or needed. The answers also reveal something about the personhood of the one responding.
While the question was worded differently, Scripture contains several instances of God asking people what they wanted. The Bible says the gifts they requested are what God gave them.
Abraham had clung to the promise of being the father of a great nation since his first encounter with God. But now he was 99 years old. Sarah was 90. The results of aging had overtaken them both. His only heir was Ishmael, the son of Sarah’s servant Hagar.
Genesis 17 says the Lord appeared to Abraham at that time and told him of Isaac’s impending birth. Abraham found the news hard to believe. Verse 17 says he even laughed at the idea. But Abraham’s prayer was for faith; faith to believe God, to obey God and to keep the covenant God made with him that day.
In all the difficult days ahead, Abraham asked for faith to follow God and God gave it to him. Romans 4 explains that Abraham’s faith “was counted to him as righteousness.”
Moses stood before Pharaoh and declared God’s declaration to “Let my people go.” Pharaoh refused to heed God’s message. He even increased the workload of the Hebrew people. Moses turned to God and asked for help in freeing his kinsmen from their slave conditions.
God’s response was a series of plagues that resulted in Pharaoh driving the Israelites from Egypt. But attaining political freedom was not the only help from God for which Moses pleaded.
Once free of Pharaoh’s army, the people complained about their rations. Some said it would have been better to stay in Egypt by their meatpots where they, at least, had enough bread to eat. Again Moses prayed to God for help in freeing his people, this time from hunger and grumbling. God responded with bread (manna) in the mornings and quail in the evenings (Ex. 16).
Over and over again, Moses beseeched God for help in freeing the Israelites from all the things that threatened them. God gave Moses his request. At life’s end, Moses saw his people standing on the very edge of the Promised Land.
David was only a teenager. He had not yet reached the 20 years of age required for military service. But his youth did not keep him from hearing the proudful boasts of the Philistine giant Goliath. Nor did David’s youth keep him from seeing the fear in his brothers and the other soldiers crouched behind their defensive lines.
David responded differently to Goliath’s taunting. He thought it an insult to the Living God of Israel. David prayed that God would allow him to slay Goliath just as God had allowed him to slay the beast that threatened David’s sheep in the wilderness.
God gave David the desire of his heart. The stone from David’s sling struck Goliath in the head with such force, the giant fell. The threat to God’s people was defeated.
Perhaps the best known story is the prayer of Solomon. In a dream, Solomon heard God promise him anything he asked for. Solomon was in the early days of his reign. It was at a time that Scripture says”Now Solomon loved the Lord. …” (1 Kings 3:3).
Solomon’s request was not for power or wealth or long life. He asked God for “an understanding heart” and the ability to discern between good and evil (v. 9).
Solomon’s request pleased God. Verse 12 says “Behold, I have done according to your words. Behold I have given you a wise and discerning heart so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.”
Even today, people refer to the wisdom of Solomon because God gave Solomon what he asked.
Faith, obedience, freedom, strength, life, wisdom — these are noble desires. They are not the kind of values one finds in most of today’s popular literature. Where is the book about the noble politician, the noble businessman, the noble CEO or the noble employee? Most popular works reflect a different set of values: “Think and Grow Rich;” “How to Win at Mediation: Ten Steps to a Better You.”
Is there a difference between these values? Certainly. The noble values focus on God and others. The popular literature reflects a culture of selfishness.
If God were to call you by name today and ask “What do you want for Christmas,” for what would you ask? Would the list reflect the stance of nobleness shown in the biblical cast mentioned above or an attitude of selfishness like that of popular culture?
The answer is already self-evident. What one asks for at Christmas usually reflects the way one lives life all the other days of the year.
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