I mentioned yesterday that I have now turned 40. We celebrated a little later than my actual birthday, so I got all my presents and whatnot yesterday. As ever, it was a good and welcome haul.

The night before, my wife launched into an explanation of the presents. There weren’t loads but that is because one of them was more expensive. I said I am not five and understand that number of gifts doesn’t equate to value of gifts. My wife retorted that, whilst she recognised this, she thought there was still a bit of me that was effectively five when it came to gifts – which is probably fair if I’m honest. I like gifts.

Notwithstanding their limitations, gifting is probably my love-language. i like giving gifts, I like receiving them. I feel particularly loved when I get stuff and I think I show love by getting thoughtful gifts for those I love. I am not good at much, but I’m pretty good at gifts (most of the time, at least – I don’t presume I always get it right!)

But I think there is a rightness to the joy of receiving gifts. There is something godly about it. Our Heavenly Father is very much a gift-giver. He bestows good gifts on his children, he even doles them out to people who hate him, and he gives them so that they will be enjoyed. Our God is all about enjoyment – he gives out of his own good pleasure and he gives so that we will enjoy what he gives and he derives great pleasure from our enjoyment.

I am always a little sceptical of those who insist gift-giving, or enjoying the receipt of a gift, is somehow childish, or pointless, or unnecessary or some other curmudgeonly response. They are right inasmuch as we are children of God who are given gifts to enjoy; so kind of childish. They are wrong inasmuch as we are created to glorify God and enjoy him forever, which necessarily includes enjoying his stuff and the things he wants to give us to enjoy too. God is absolutely pro-joy and gives us stuff that we might enjoy them. Giving gifts is utterly godly behaviour and enjoying gifts is properly Christian behaviour.

And, before somebody tries, we don’t have to spiritualise this away. God gives gifts of both spiritual and material kinds. He sends the sun and rain on the righteous and unrighteous alike, he gives us bread, wine and other such things, he gives us a creation of huge variety to enjoy to the fullest extent. We don’t have to only enjoy what is “spiritual” – that would be gnosticism. It is godly and Christian to give and receive and properly enjoy physical gifts too. God is a gift-giver of all varieties and we emulate him when we give one another gifts and we do what his people are specifically called to do when we properly enjoy them!