Saint Nick

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

I'm Wyn Collier. Today I'm reading a piece I wrote titled Saint Nick. The person we know as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, was born around A.D. 270 to a wealthy Grecian family. Tragically, his parents died when he was a boy and he lived with his uncle who loved him and taught him to follow God. When Nicholas was a young man, legend says that he heard of three sisters who didn't have a dowry for marriage and would soon be destitute. Wanting to follow Jesus' teaching about giving to those in need, he took his inheritance and gave each sister a bag of gold coins. Over the years, Nicholas gave the rest of his money away, feeding the poor and caring for others. In the following centuries, Nicholas was honored for his lavish generosity and he inspired the character we know as Santa Claus.

While the glitz and advertising of the season may threaten our celebrations, the gift-giving tradition connects to Nicholas. And his generosity was based on his devotion to Jesus. Nicholas knew that Christ enacted unimagined generosity, bringing the most profound gift, God. Jesus is God with us. And he brought us the gift of life. In a world of death, he saves his people from their sins. When we believe in Jesus, sacrificial generosity unfolds.

We tend to others' needs, and we joyfully provide for them as God provides for us. This is St. Nick's story, but far more. This is God's story.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 to 25. This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took Mary home as his wife.

But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Jesus. Let's pray. God, we want to be generous, but we often don't feel it. Help us to practice true generosity like you do. In Jesus' name, amen.