Birthdays: A Present, A Proverb, and A Purpose By Justin Gottlieb

Merry Christmas!  This week we won’t have our regular blog schedule but we do have a special guest blog today from Justin Gottlieb.  Justin is our neighbor, friend and pastor.  You can read more from him at http://www.sevenmileroad.org/

Enjoy!

When I was growing up, an elderly, depression-era, neighbor lady, gave my brother and I each a fresh pack of tighty whities for our birthdays http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briefs. It was quite frustrating conjuring up even the tiniest bit of thankfulness. 

While in line at Starbucks recently, I found out it was a new friend's birthday and want to give him a gift. I purchased a gift card assuming that he'd be served and blessed by free coffee for the next week or so. As he shook my hand and smiled, he said, "It's better to give than receive." 

That was rugged. It's not like I'd given him a pack of underwear. 

For much of my life (I'm not proud of this!), I haven't been a big fan of birthdays. Celebrating the lowest common denominator of human existence just didn't get me hyped. 

While I have reformed my thought on birthdays (becoming a dad will do that), I have also come to realize that there is one birthday worth celebrating. That birthday is belongs to Jesus. 

Jesus was eternally and unendingly rich, but chose to be born poor, so that we (the poorest of poor!) might become rich in him (2 Corinthians 8.9). 

That's a birthday with purpose. 

That's a birthday worth celebrating with more than tighty whities and giftcards. 

Celebrate Jesus' birthday by giving your life to him.