The Yard-Sale Christmas 礼物太多
Dexu Xia
The Yard-Sale Christmas
Godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6
A mom felt she’d been overspending on family Christmas gifts, so one year she decided to try something different. For a few months before the holiday, she scrounged through yard sales for inexpensive, used items. She bought more than usual but for far less money. On Christmas Eve, her children excitedly opened gift after gift after gift. The next day there were more! Mom had felt guilty about not getting new gifts so she had additional gifts for Christmas morning. The kids began opening them but quickly complained, “We’re too tired to open any more! You’ve given us so much!” That’s not a typical response from children on a Christmas morning!
God has blessed us with so much, but it seems we’re always looking for more: a bigger house, a better car, a larger bank account, or [fill in the blank]. Paul encouraged Timothy to remind people in his congregation that “we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:7–8).
God has given us our very breath and life—besides providing for our needs. How refreshing it might be to enjoy and be content with His gifts and to say, You’ve given us so much! We don’t need more. “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (v. 6).
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What are you thankful to God for today? How might you learn contentment?
Father, You’ve blessed me with so much. Teach me each day to give thanks.
礼物太多
敬虔加上知足的心便是大利了。—提摩太前书6章6节
有位母亲总觉得自己在购买家人的圣诞礼物上花了太多钱，所以有一年她决定尝试不同的做法。在圣诞假期的几个月前，她就开始搜寻一些家庭的旧货出售，买了许多便宜的二手物件。她花很少的钱买了比往年更多的礼物。在平安夜里，孩子们兴奋地拆开一件又一件的礼物，但隔天，他们竟然还有更多礼物！原来这位母亲因这些不是新的礼物而感到内疚，所以在圣诞节早晨又预备了额外的礼物。孩子们又开始拆礼物了，但很快就抱怨说：“我们太累了，不想再拆礼物了！妳给我们的礼物太多了！”孩子一般不会在圣诞早晨说这样的话，嫌礼物太多！
同样地，上帝赐给我们的恩典和福气也很多，但我们似乎总是渴望得到更多：更大的房子、更好的车、更多的银行存款、更多⋯⋯（任何你想得到的）。因此，保罗鼓励提摩太要提醒他教会中的弟兄姐妹：“我们没有带什么到世上来，也不能带什么去，只要有衣有食，就当知足。”（提摩太前书6章7-8节）
上帝不但赐给我们生命气息，还供应我们一切所需。若我们能好好享受，并满足于祂所赐的礼物，向祂说：祢已经给我们太多了！我们不需要更多了！这该有多好啊！“敬虔加上知足的心便是大利了”（6节）。
今天你要为什么事感谢上帝？你如何学习知足呢？
天父，感谢祢赐给我诸多的恩福，
求祢教导我每天都晓得献上感恩。