The Christmas Stocking
Do you have a Christmas Stocking hanging someplace in your home at Christmas time? Well, there is a story that goes with this tradition, too.
A long time ago there was a hard working man who worked as a shoe cobbler and had three daughters. One day, a stranger came into his shop and the cobbler was telling him about his daughters who all wanted to get married but he didn’t have enough money to pay the ‘bride price’ which was expected in those days.
Some time later as the cobbler and his daughters were at home one evening, an expensive gold coin came in through an open window! The cobbler ran outside to see where the coin had come from but he didn’t see anyone around. This would be enough for the first daughter to get married. This happened again, and again he ran out to see who had thrown the coin….but found no one. Now the second daughter could be married. And then, once again, another coin came in through the window. This time when the cobbler ran out he saw a man hurrying away and called out to him. To his surprise, it was the stranger who had come into his shop some time before. The cobbler was so surprised! He asked the man why he had given so much to his family when they didn’t even know him and didn’t deserve such expensive gifts. The man replied that he knew what Jesus had done for him by coming to earth and dying on the cross to pay for his sins. He said he hadn’t deserved that either. But because Jesus gave him a very expensive gift that he didn’t deserve, he wanted to follow His example and give expensive gifts to others who didn’t deserve them either. This is how he showed his love for Jesus.
This story makes a good point. One of the greatest things we can do to show our love to Jesus is to love other people – that is an expensive gift that we can give to others…..just as Jesus loved us so much that He was willing to give His very life for us. Let’s see how much love we can share with others!
Blessings.
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