OK, I have a confession to make. I'm a nerd. Not the pencil-protector wearing, taped glasses, walking encyclopedia type of nerd. But rather, the type of nerd who fixes computers and obsessively corrects peoples' spelling and collars and loves animated children's movies, a la VeggieTales and 321Penguins and The Incredibles and Cars.
So when I woke up today and realized that December begins tomorrow, with Christmas coming not far behind it, it's probably not a surprise that the next thought that popped into my mind was that of a Silly Song with Larry, "Oh Santa," from VeggieTales' The Toy that Saved Christmas. The premise of the song is that it's Christmas Eve, and Larry the Cucumber is excitedly waiting for Santa to come visit him. Over the course of the evening, he is visited not by Santa, but rather by a banker, a viking, and an IRS agent. The milk cartoon in the background obviously shaking fake snow over the entire scene, the kitchen tiles on which the stage is set, and the varied vegetables actors, which are undoubtedly the cutest comestibles you've ever seen, do nothing but add to the charm of the song.
The song says multiple times that Larry, although frightened by the intruders, makes an offering in the spirit of Christmas, giving one of the cookies that he had planned to give to Santa to each of the trespassers. This is surely an unsurpassed gesture of kindness for a cucumber. But it got me thinking about the kindness that humans can show, the offerings that we can give to Jesus.
It's easy to laugh at the absurdity of a cucumber dressed in a towel, giving cookies to vikings and IRS agents on his kitchen counter. But perhaps Jesus would have been pleased with his offering, after all. Because for a cucumber, that really is quite an extraordinary gift. And Jesus doesn't care about the size of our offerings; He cares about the heart of our gift. He wants us to give something to Him that means something to us. He doesn't want our trash, our leftovers, the things that cost us nothing to give. He wants our best. He deserves our best. Don't short-change Him.
So when I woke up today and realized that December begins tomorrow, with Christmas coming not far behind it, it's probably not a surprise that the next thought that popped into my mind was that of a Silly Song with Larry, "Oh Santa," from VeggieTales' The Toy that Saved Christmas. The premise of the song is that it's Christmas Eve, and Larry the Cucumber is excitedly waiting for Santa to come visit him. Over the course of the evening, he is visited not by Santa, but rather by a banker, a viking, and an IRS agent. The milk cartoon in the background obviously shaking fake snow over the entire scene, the kitchen tiles on which the stage is set, and the varied vegetables actors, which are undoubtedly the cutest comestibles you've ever seen, do nothing but add to the charm of the song.
The song says multiple times that Larry, although frightened by the intruders, makes an offering in the spirit of Christmas, giving one of the cookies that he had planned to give to Santa to each of the trespassers. This is surely an unsurpassed gesture of kindness for a cucumber. But it got me thinking about the kindness that humans can show, the offerings that we can give to Jesus.
It's easy to laugh at the absurdity of a cucumber dressed in a towel, giving cookies to vikings and IRS agents on his kitchen counter. But perhaps Jesus would have been pleased with his offering, after all. Because for a cucumber, that really is quite an extraordinary gift. And Jesus doesn't care about the size of our offerings; He cares about the heart of our gift. He wants us to give something to Him that means something to us. He doesn't want our trash, our leftovers, the things that cost us nothing to give. He wants our best. He deserves our best. Don't short-change Him.
Luke 21:1-4
1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
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