Ding Dong Ditch

The kitchen counter is covered with bits of flour and sprinkles.
Cookie cutters, rolling pins, and Hershey kisses are scattered over the center island.
It is cookie baking time.

The house smells delicious.
The smells of Christmas.
The dozens of cookies are for others, not for us.

Trays are put together and covered with tin foil.
Festive bows are attached to the top.
The name of the recipient is the finishing touch.

The people receiving the cookies may never know the baker.
It is better that way.
With the stealth of a spy, the mission is planned.

The houses are accounted for, the best routes are decided.
Who will drive? Who will deliver?
Who can run the fastest?

We pull up to the first house and park quite a few houses down the street.
The giver gets out of the car as inconspicuously as possible.
Dark clothes are worn to blend into the nighttime surroundings.

With the car idling, we wait.
The giver goes to the front door and lays the tray of cookies down.
The sneaky finger rings the doorbell and begins a mad dash to the car.

In the shadows, laughter and squeals of contentment.
We did it! We got away without being seen!
Ding-Dong-Ditch!

A few times we were seen at the last moment.
Or were we?
The receiver could never be quite sure.

We have been the recipients of a tray of cookies as another family included us on their list.
In that case, we DID know who it was because we could hear their boys in the car.
Merry Christmas! with much laughter and giggling coming from the mini van.

Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then, your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4)

God wants a cheerful giver, but desires an inconspicuous one as well.
Announcing our gift giving with fanfare and publicity goes against God’s directives.
No one has to know but HIM!

Who can you give anonymously to this Christmas?
For whom will you dirty your kitchen and plan your escape route?
Who is worthy of such a gift?

No one.
None of us are worthy.
That is why it is called grace.

To be the recipient of grace is such a gift.
Whether it be a tray of cookies, handmade ornaments, a Christmas cactus doesn’t matter.
What does matter is the heart behind the gift.

People looking at what we did may think our gift is perfect.
Only God knows if our heart inside matches the presentation outside.
Only God knows.
That one truth makes all the difference in our gift giving.

God the Father knows all about Gift giving.
God the Father gave the first gift of Christmas.
The gift of His Son.

No gift can ever compare to that First Gift.
With Jesus at the center of our gift giving, the gift will please the recipient and the Father.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7,8)

The Ding Dong Ditch that we do here on earth is a glimpse of heaven.
Imagine knocking on the door.
Excitement and anticipation builds.

Will we be seen?
Have we been discovered?

All of a sudden, Jesus answers the door.
A warm smile on His face.
Arms extended to embrace us.

But how did You know? we ask, surprised that He found out.

The King will reply, ” I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Jesus sees all along.

What doorbell can you ring, in secret?
What gift can you give anonymously?
What can you do that is unseen?

Jesus sees when on one else does.
That is the way gift giving should be!

Go ahead, ring a few doorbells in His name!