The Gift of Christmas
“This is real love.
It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a
sacrifice to take away our sins.” I John 4:10
Some of you are shopping for Christmas gifts and a few are already finished.
I spend a lot of time looking at ads in the paper and checking things on
the internet trying to think what certain people would really like. I don’t enjoy randomly buying just to get it
over with. It has to be a gift that I
think one would like to have and enjoy. One of my favorite things to get for my
grown grandchildren and other family members is a subscription to the
“Guideposts” magazine. It’s so inspiring
and it is a gift that gives all year long.
When they are grown they have their own likes and dislikes, but who
doesn’t like inspiring and encouraging stories?
Children can become so blinded by lights and glitter, they don’t
connect Baby Jesus birth with the real gift of Christmas. As a child, I knew only one thing about
Christmas – Santa Claus! Of course I heard
the story about Baby Jesus who was born in a stable, but didn’t connect the two
together for Christmas. It took a few
more years for me to realize that the word, ‘Christmas’ was used to celebrate
the event of the birth of Jesus, because it shows us the ‘Christ’ in
Christmas. Several years went by; years
of joy and years of unhappiness. There
was always a yearning in my heart for something more in life and didn’t know
what it was until the day he let me see what was missing in my life; it was
Jesus Christ.
He introduced himself to me 36 years ago and I was never to be
the same again. He took my sins and cast
them in the depth of the sea, never to be remembered again. I was forgiven of all the sinful things I
did, or thought; I became a new person. I
pray that I continue to become a better person as I am led by the Holy Spirit. As
time goes on I find myself being blessed over and over again. I am so grateful that God sent His son to
bring me out of darkness into His light.
Looking back, I can remember several special gifts I received at
Christmas. The first one was my favorite doll, Ginger; white ice skates, my
first skis, a stack of Nancy Drew books and my first lipstick. I was very excited over all these gifts, but
the greatest gift I ever received was Jesus.
When God gave his son, He gave the ultimate gift; his Son! We should
really get very excited over this.
Let’s look deeper into this gift. Why is it so great?
Number 1: We can live with abundant joy.
Number 2: We can find peace and contentment.
Number 3: We will never go without our needs being met.
Number 4: He promises that we will spend eternity in heaven.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. When we accept the gift he has for us, all
these good things will be given to us.
We read in the Bible about Joseph and Mary, who traveled to Bethlehem
where Jesus was born. The shepherds came
and worshiped the Baby and the wise men came from a great distance to pay
homage to the Child. They fell on their
knees before Him because they knew and understood who he was.
You cannot experience Christmas for what it is, if you don’t
know the Christ in Christmas. Come Christmas morning, your heart should be full
of joy and thankfulness for the gift of eternal life that he is offering.
Ask Jesus to be Lord of your life and he will stand by you in all
circumstances.
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