What do you give the man who has everything?

No, I’m not talking about the men in our families or among our friends, even though finding the right gift for them can definitely be a challenge sometimes. Instead, I’m thinking of Someone else — the Man whose birth we celebrate this Christmas season — the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever considered the irony? We almost always give gifts to the important people in our lives on their birthdays. But when we celebrate the birth of the most important Person in our lives, the One who gives us every good gift (James 1:17, Moroni 10:18), we usually give gifts to others, and not to Him.

Not that giving gifts to others at Christmas is a bad thing, of course. The gifts we give each other in love surely bring joy to our Savior, as well as to the recipients.

And it is a bit more of a challenge to find a gift for the Lord on His birthday, at least in the way we often find gifts. We can’t really shop for one; we can’t order one online. We can’t make it with our hands, wrap it up, and hand it to the Lord, or even send it by special delivery.

So what do you give the Creator of the universe for His birthday? What gift do you give the One who holds everything in His hands? How do you find the right gift for the Man who has everything?

I don’t have an answer, at least not a specific one. But here are some questions that might lead to a meaningful answer for each of us.

What if we did the same thing in choosing a birthday gift for the Lord that we do for other people? When choosing gifts for the special people in our lives, we think about their likes, preferences, hopes, and favorite things. We think about what would make them happy. We often even ask them what gifts would be meaningful to them.

Why not do the same thing when we choose a gift for the Lord? This year for Christmas, give some serious thought to a gift for Him. In fact, why not ask Him what He would like for His birthday, and really listen for the answer — and then find a way to give that gift?

What do you give the Man who has everything for His birthday? That’s probably best left between you and Him. But I suspect that even the Man who has everything can never have too much love or faith or service from those He loved enough to die for (John 15:13).

Finding a meaningful gift for the Savior might just lead to understanding the meaning of Christmas in a whole new way.

Merry Christmas!