Last weekend I spent some time wrapping two gifts we wanted to present to two young girls. They are daughters of a family friend of ours.
I had thought about the gifts for some time, went out and purchased the gifts. Then I went and bought the wrapping paper. I picked the one that seemed the most appropriate for this time of the year- Christmas and was bright and cheerful. When I got home I assembled all the items; gifts in the box they came with, wrapping paper, ribbons, tape and scissor and started to wrap the items.
It started off easy and then half way through the process of wrapping the first box I realized I really needed to think through this whole wrapping process well, if not I would mess up the wrapping paper and might even need to go get some more.
I didn’t realize it was going to be such a big deal. It’s just wrapping two box, what could go wrong?
I tried turning the wrapping paper this was…no….I tried folding it another way…..hmmmm…., I tried tucking it in then folding it…..no……”This is not a big deal.” “Hmm, maybe I should have had them wrap it for my at the store?” Thoughts raced through my mind. “This is not a big deal, surely I can figure it out.” I left it alone half wrapped for a little while and then came back to it.
Slowly, I tried out a tuck and roll and fold process….it worked……yea! I did the same for the other side of the box….nice, it worked too. Soon I was done with the first box.
With the knowledge of wrapping the first box, I proceeded to wrap the second box. This time it was a breeze… I just copied exactly what I had done right, what worked with the first box and was done quickly.
Philippians 4:4-7 tells us that we are to not be anxious concerning anything. By prayers and by supplications and with thanksgiving, we are to let our request be known unto God.
As I read those scriptures, it occurred to me that our thanksgiving is like the wrapping paper for our prayers and supplications. The same way that there are protocols of wrapping a gift, we are to use the protocols of thanksgiving to wrap our prayers and supplications when we make our requests known to God.
It’s one thing to buy a gift, it’s another thing to prepare the gift for presentation then, it’s another thing to actually present the gift to the receiver, and then it’s another thing for the receiver to actually receive the gift with joy.
By this time tomorrow most gifts under the Christmas tree would have been presented to the receiver, unwrapped and hopefully received with joy.
However, let us remember that as we followed the gift wrapping protocols, so we’re to follow the prayer and supplication wrapping and presentation protocols.
Wrap your prayers and supplication with the wrapping paper and ribbons of thanksgiving. Then, present it with a joyful heart to our Good God. When you do this, the peace of God will guard your heart. You can rejoice know your prayers are heard.
Enjoy a Joyful and Merry Christmas.
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