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Thursday, June 16, 2005
A radio commentator once defined a good gift as "something that person really wants but would never pay for themselves." I tend to agree with that. I mean, it could be something as simple as a CD or as large as a house, but the reality is that giving a good gift should require some degree of thought and knowledge of that person.
I got a really good gift at this year's senior speeches, but I've got to go backwards a bit in order to explain why it was a good gift.
In 2000, I took a group of teenagers to Holland on a mission trip. We took a day off each week to visit area cities and sightsee a bit. One of the off-days took us to Haarlem...primarily to visit the Corrie Ten Boom home. We'd been required to read her book on her involvement in the Dutch resistance during WWII as part of our training, so I thought visiting the home would be a cool thing to do.
And it was.
What surprised me was that the family still maintained their watchmaking business she mentioned in the book. Corrie later went on to do great things for the Christian faith around Holland and the world, but her family continued to make watches right there in their little shop where the "hiding place" became famous.
Needless to say, I was intrigued and would've loved a watch from there...but it was my anniversary, so I picked up one for my wife. I simply didn't have enough money to get myself one after I'd grabbed a pair of Birkenstocks at a local outlet (the currency exchange rate at the time allowed for HUGE savings as the dollar had twice the buying power--unlike now against the Euro). I figured I'd be back again, so I put buying a watch off.
Well, I went back three years later. Again, a watch was out of my budget range...this time due to the dollar's loss against the Euro. It seemed like I'd be paying entirely too much for a "want," not a need. So, I toured the "hiding place" again and left without a watch.
Flash forward to 2005. One of my seniors is spending six months in Holland continuing our church's commitment to that ministry...so, she stopped by and got me a watch. Not just any watch, either. One from the Ten Boom shop...one of only six in the world. Frankly, I'm a bit scared to wear it. I can be hard on watches.
But it wasn't that they all went with the "chip in" and got the watch...that alone would've made it a great gift. The reason behind their choice as that for a gift was because of Ecclesiastes 3...and what I try to teach teenagers regarding wisdom.
I really don't want to type those famous verses here because it would take too long, and besides, most people know them anyway...but, for grins, why don't you grab your Bible, flip through to Ecclesiastes 3, and read those famous verses in 1--11?
Done?
Okay...
So, Solomon wrote the first proverb we studied. He also wrote Ecclesiastes.
And you have the wisest person who ever lived make an assertion about how there is time for everything under the sun. No matter what it is, there's a time and a place for it. You simply have to know when is the proper time for whatever it is that you're choosing.
In essence, wisdom is knowing what time it is.
And since I taught that so often, they gave me a watch, so I'd always know what time it is.
But today's lesson really isn't about the watch, or the gift giving, it's about the definition of wisdom I used. First of all, do you agree or disagree with that application? Secondly, what in the list of Ecclesiastes 3 of "time" surprises you that it's in the list? Finally, what is something you need to do, but can't seem to find the "time?"
Brent 4:39 AM
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